Transformers: Avatar Chronicles
by TheBaneOfHumanity
Summary: After an accident involving a space bridge, a group of Autobots and Decepticons have been transported to the world of the Four Nations, and have brought their war with them. TF continuity is Prime with bits and pieces of G1 and the Bayformers as well. R&R if you can please.
1. Arrival

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon.**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 1: Arrival

* * *

MANY MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO, ON THE PLANET CYBERTRON, LIFE EXISTED, BUT NOT LIFE AS WE KNOW IT, INTELLIGENT ROBOTS THAT COULD THINK AND FEEL INHABITED THE CITIES. THEY WERE CALLED AUTOBOTS AND DECEPTICONS. HOWEVER, THE BRUTAL DECEPTICONS WERE DRIVEN BY A SINGLE GOAL: TOTAL DOMINATION. THEY SET OUT TO DESTROY THE PEACE LOVING AUTOBOTS, AND A WAR BETWEEN THE FORCES OF GOOD AND EVEL RAGED ACROSS CYBERTRON, DEVASTATING ALL IN ITS PATH, DRAINING THE PLANET'S ONCE RICH SOURCES OF ENERGY. THE AUTOBOTS, ON THE VERGE OF EXTINCTION, BATTLED VALIANTLY TO SURVIVE, BUT IN REACENT YEARS, THE WAR BEGAN TO TILT IN THE DECEPTICONS' FAVOR, AND THE TYRANOUS LEADER OF THE DECEPTICONS, MEGATRON, HAS CONDUCTED A PLAN TO END THE WAR AND DESTROY THE AUTOBOTS ONCE AND FOR ALL...

* * *

Deep in the Decepticon capital city of Kaon, Megatron was observing the final touches of his latest creation: a space bridge. With it, he will be able to access the resources of other worlds to experiment with and create weapons that the Autobots have never seen before. Then the doors opened, and the Decepticon intelligence officer, "Soundwave," came through.

"SPACE BRIDGE COMPLETE MEGATRON," Sondwave reported to his master with a monatone computer-like voice. Megatron simply smirked, knowing this will spell certain doom for the Autobots. His second in command, the seeker known as "Starscream," disagreed though.

"If I man ask Lord Megatron, how will we even know if this will work?" Starscream asked, trying to hide his distrust. "Sure, a Decepticon MIGHT be able to go to its destination safely, but how would he be able to get back here?"

"Simple," Megatron responded with a growling, yet emotionless tone. "We will use these devices attached to our wrists to teleport us back to Kaon." As proof, Megatron showed Starscream the device, which was attached to his arm. Starscream, however, was even more baffled at this as opposed to relieved.

"And just when did you test this to make sure it WORKS!?" the seeker shouted, not caring that his master would likely crush him with one hit.

"We will field test it soon, and I sugest you be quiet before you become our first test subject Starscream," Megatron answered with terrifying authority. "With this space bridge, we will be able to experiment with resources from alien worlds and create new weapons of mass destruction. The Autobots won't know what hit them." Unknown to him though, outside the capital, an Autobot scout named "Bumblebee," was recording Megatron's conversation. Bumblebee then transformed into a futuristic muscle car and drived as fast as he could to deliver this information to the heroic leader of the Autobots, "Optimus Prime."

* * *

Once Bumblebee has reached the Autobot capital of Iacon, he immediately rushed to the control room, where Optimus Prime was monotoring any Decepticon activity.

"(Optimus! I've got something you might want to hear!)" Bumblebee said to the Autobot leader through his beeps and bloops due to his damaged vocal processor.

"What is it Bumblebee?" Optimus said, with a great amount of courage and reassurance in his voice. Bumblebee then got out a recording device and played back Megatron's conversation with Soundwave and Starscream.

"With this space bridge, we will be able to experiment with resources from alien worlds and create new weapons of mass destruction. The Autobots won't know what hit them..." the device played back. Once Optimus heard his rival's intentions, his optics widened.

"By Primus. If the Decepticons use this space bridge, who knows what kinds of weapons they'll be able to create?" the Autobot leader said. "If we are to win this war, there's only one logical solution: invade Kaon, and destroy the space bridge."

"Invade Kaon!?" replied a red Autobot named "Ironhide," who's served in this war almost as long as Optimus. "If we go marchin' over there, it'll be a massacre Prime!"

"I'm afraid we don't have much of a choice," Optimus said to the Autobot veteran. "If we stay here, we'll risk loosing everything." Then he went up to the intercom to alert the Autobots warriors in the city. "Autobots, assemble a strike team and meet me outside the capital in one hour."

* * *

Before heading out to meet with the strike team, a tall blue Autobot with shoulder cannons carrying a huge hammer walked up to Optimus. He was the second in command of the Autobots, "Ultra Magnus."

"I know why you are here Magnus," Optimus said. "But my decision is final. We need to invade Kaon and destroy this space bridge."

"I understand Optimus," Magnus responded. "But Ironhide may be right. It would be suicide to attack the Decepticon capital."

"Be that is it may old friend, this stalemate cannot last," Optimus replied. "One side must win..." And with that, he walked outside the capital to his strike team. Ultra Magnus just watched, not wanting Optimus to do this, but knowing he is his superior and must abide by his decision.

* * *

Back at Kaon, a test run was taking place for the space bridge. A Decepticon soldier was transported to a world not too far from Cybertron. Now it was time to test the wrist device, and much to Starscream's surprise, the warrior returned without a scratch on him.

"Our inventions work!" Starscream declared, trying to hide his surprise. Megatron, as usual, was annoyed.

"Of course they work Starscream..." Megatron replied, clearly agrivated but keeping his low tone. "Now, bring in a team to-" Megatron couldn't finish his response when Soundwave inturupted them.

"ALERT! AUTOBOTS DETECTED INSIDE THE CAPITAL!" Soundwave reported. Megatron's optics widened in shock, then he turned to Starscream, furiously.

"YOU USLESS PILE OF SCRAP! YOU LET THE AUTOBOTS DISCOVER THE SPACE BRIDGE!" Megatron exploded at the seeker, now unable to stay calm.

"Wh-what!? No Lord Megatron! I-" Just then, the doors were blasted off by a trigger happy Autobot named "Warpath."

"WHOO-HOO! Let's go, BAM! kick some Decepticon cans!" Warpath yelled enthusiastically as more Autobots, including Optimus, Bumblebee and Ironhide, charged forward.

"Omega Supreme, destroy the space bridge!" Optimus commanded the mammoth Autobot guardian, "Omega Supreme."

"COMMAND, ACKNOWLEDGED," Omega responded in his booming voice as he walked to the space bridge. Just as he was about to carry out Optimus' command though, six green and purple Decepticons, known as "The Constructicons," walked up to the titan. Their leader, "Scrapper," was the first to speek.

"Hey Omega! Come and get us you over sized tin can!" Scrapper yelled, hoping to get Omega Supreme's attention. The guardian then turned, and his optics were filled with anger when he saw who yelled at him.

"CONSTRUCTICONS! MUST, DESTROY!" Omega yelled with rage, much to Optimus' dismay.

"No Omega! Destroy the Space Bridge!" Optimus commanded the massive Autobot, but Omega ignored him, and charged at the Constructicons.

"Constructicons! Merge into Devastator!" Scrapper commanded his comrads, and each of them transformed into a limb, then combinded to form a massive Decepticon that was about as big as Omega, "Devastator." Omega didn't have time to respond when Devastator tackled him to the ground.

"OMEGA!" Optimus cried, when suddenly, Megatron delivers a sucker punch to the Autobot leader's face, causing him to land on the controls for the Space Bridge. Megatron then pins him down.

"It's over Prime," the tyrant declared, not knowing that Starscream was aiming his null-rays from up above.

"I've got BOTH of my enemies right in my optics," the Seeker said to himself. Optimus fortunately catches him, then kicks Megatron off of him and gets out of the line of fire, right when Starscream fired his null-rays, causing them to hit the controls insted. The Space Bridge then started to go haywire. Megatron looked at the destroyed console in terror, then sees that it was Starscream who caused all of this. NOW he was mad.

"YOU FOOL STARSCREAM! YOU MAY HAVE VERY WELL DOOMED US ALL!" Megatron yelled at his second in command as the Space Bridge then starts to collapse in on itself and the Autobots and Decepticons were sucked with it, before the entire bridge exploded, causing the capital to explode and collapse, but when the dust settled, only the bodies of a few Decepticon drones were discovered. The Autobots and other Decepticons were missing.

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS: PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Hours later, Optimus awoke from stasis inside some kind of emerald coated cave. It wasn't like anything on Cybertron, so immediately, he started to get concerned, knowing he was not at his home planet. What concerned him even more though is that none of his Autobot comrades were with him. After he got up, a bit beat up, but operational, he activated a built-in comlink in his head.

"Autobots, report," Optimus said through the device. His response: nothing but static. Then he realized that his comlink was damaged. Fearing for his friends' safety, he looked around his surroundings to try and find a way out. Then he saw that there were structures here that were obviously made by intelligant life forms.

'If the Autobots are here, then maybe the locals of this world will know where they are...' he thought, hoping he was right and that the other Autobots survived the Space Bridge explosion. After finding no openings, his best option was now to blast his way there, so he started feeling the walls, trying to find a hollow spot. When he found one, a gun formed in his right arm and he fired at the wall, causing an opening to form. He then started walking to make his way to the surface.

* * *

Meanwhile in an island miles away from the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se, The Avatar, Aang, and his friends were busy being reunited with Appa, Aang's pet six-legged sky bison. They reacently got him out of an underground base in Lake Laogai run by the Dai Lee and their leader, Long Feng, a corrupt advisor to the Earth King who has been busy hiding the truth of the war the Fire Nation has been brewing for 100 years to achive total control of the Earth King and the city.

"I missed you more than you'll ever know buddy," Aang said to his pet as he laied on his giant fluffy forehead. Immediately after, Momo, the Gaang's flying leamur bat, flew up to Appa's forehead to do the same thing. Meanwhile, Sokka came up to Katara and Toph to discuss their next move to try and warn the Earth King of a solar eclipse that will render the firebenders powerless, thus giving them a chance to end the war.

"Look, we escaped from the Dai Lee, we got Appa back, I'm telling you, we should go to the Earth King now and tell him our plan," he said, with a hint of him being full of himself as always. "We're on a roll!"

"One good hour after weeks of trouble isn't much of a roll," Katara replied to her brother.

"We can build on it," Sokka responded. "If we want to invade the Fire Nation when the eclipse happens we need the Earth King's support."

"What makes you think we'll get it?" Toph asked. "I don't know if you've noticed, but things don't usually go smoothly for our little gang."

"I know, but I've got a good feeling about this," Sokka said, obviously trying to hide his slight agreement with Toph. "This time'll be different."

"Sokka, Long Feng is in control of the city," Katara argued. "His conspiracy with the Dai Lee is too powerful. I think we should just keep flying and leave this horrible place behind us."

"I'm with Sweetness," Toph said. "I've seen enough of Ba Sing Se, AND I CAN'T EVEN SEE!" Just then, Aang came up to say what he thinks of this situation.

"But now that we have appa back, there's nothing stopping us from telling the Earth King the truth, about the conspiracy AND the war," Aang claimed.

"See," Sokka said with his hand on Aang's shoulder and with a cocky grin on his face. "Aang's with me. It's the whole reason we came here in the first place, we have to try." Katara then placed her hand on her chin and though for a second before coming to a new conclusion.

"Well, I guess if the Earth King knew the truth, things could change," she said. Just then, Toph got up with her arms crossed, still not 100% sure on what to do.

"I don't trust the new positive Sokka. LONG FANG BRAINWASHED YOU, DIDN'T HE!?" she said while pointing at Sokka blindly, half joking at her remark. Then, Aang spotted three ships far away from the island they were on.

"That's probably the Dai-Lee searching for us," Sokka declared. "So?" He then turned to Katara for an answer. It didn't take that long for her to make a decision.

"Let's fly," she declared.

* * *

Back at Ba Sing Se, next to the palace, the ground suddenly blasted open, thankfuly not while any civilians were around the area, and Optimus, in his alt mode, a futuristic red and blue semi-truck, came out of the hole and started driving around the area. The civilians were of course cought off guard and quite scared, but he drove past any pedestrians, making sure not to hit anyone. Just then, he saw some kind of creature in the sky with four humans on it. Perhaps they could know where he was.

* * *

"CAN WE PLEASE BUY A NEW SADDLE!? RIDDING BAREBACK IS TERRIFYING!" Toph claimed while ridding on Appa with the others, holding on for dear life. Her blindness already made flying frightful for her, but now they don't even have a saddle. As Appa aproached the Earth Kingdom palace, Sokka noticed something in the ground. Something very unusual.

"Guys, look," Sokka said, and Katara and Aang looked down to see a vehicle racing from the palace.

"Long Fang must have known we were coming!" Aang exclaimed as he commanded Appa to land near the strange vehicle. The four of them got out and readied themselves for a fight. "Whoever you are, surrender and we won't start something ugly!"

"Do not be afraid," something from the vehicle said. "I have no intentions to fight." Just then, the parts of the vehicle started to move and shirt to different places, and soon, a giant metal red and blue robot was standing before them. During the process, Aang's eyes widen in shock and surprise, Katara's mouth was wide open, and Sokka's mouth literally dropped to the floor. Toph on the other hand was more confused. She could sense that something was alive and in front of them, but she couldn't 'see' whatever it was. She could however sense that the others were dumbstruck.

"Uh guys," she asked. "What's going on?"

"Oh nothing..." Katara responded, still in awe at what happened. "Whatever that thing was just turned into a giant 30ft tall metal man..." Toph tried to picture it before grinning wide.

"Sweet," was her response. Then, Aang cautiously walked to the robot, somewhat scared, but curious.

"Uh, okay," Aang said. "My name's Aang, and this is Katara, Sokka and Toph. Who are you?"

"WHAT are you?" Sokka added. The robot then stepped forward and kneeled to their level.

"My name is Optimus Prime," he responded. "An Autonomis Robotic Organism from the planet Cybertron, or 'Autobot' for short." Sokka then stepped forward at the mentioning of the word 'planet.'

"Whoa whoa whoa big guy," Sokka said. "Planet?"

"Yes," Optimus responded, somewhat confused. "Have you not encountered an alien lifeform before?"

"No, we never even knew life existed outside our world," Katara responded. Sokka, fear aside, then walked up to Optimus and turned to the others with a big grin on his face.

"Oh man, if we add this guy to the team, we won't even need the eclipse to win the war!" Sokka claimed with great enthusiasm. Optimus' optics widened however at the mentioning of war. Sokka noticed this and turned to him. "Hey, big fella, something wrong?"

"War?" Optimus asked. "This planet is at war as well?"

"Yes, sadly," Aang responded. "Your planet is at war too?"

"Yes, but that is something I'd prefer to speek about later," Optimus added. "Now, that aside, I need to know about this world that I am on." Katara then stepped forward with a map.

"I'd be happy to help you with that Optimus," Katara said as she layed the map down for Optimus to see. "Our world is composed of four nations: the Earth Kingdom, which is where we are now, the Water Tribes, the Air Nomads, and the Fire Nation. For the longest time we lived in peace and harmony, until the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of controling the four elements through bending and the preserver of balance over the four nations was capable of stopping them, but one day he vanished, never to be seen again. Knowing the next Avatar would be an airbender, the Fire Nation wiped out the air temples, and killed every airbender, except one." She then turned her head to Aang, who's head was down after hearing what happened to his people again. Optimus was in shock as to what the Fire Nation did.

"By the Allspark..." he said. The Decepticons may be brutal, but never have they comitted the act of genocide. Hearing that story made him think of one thing: the Fire Nation must be brought to justice. He then reached a conclusion. "I will assist you any way that I can." The children then smiled as to what he said, especially Sokka.

"We're glad that you will, cause right now, we may need some major help Optimus," Aang said to the Autobot leader. "We're trying to message the Earth King about a solar eclipse that will render the firebenders powerless and give us a chance of ending this war, but one of his advisors, Long Fang, is trying to prevent that, and has likely alerted the Earth King that we're coming. We now have no choice but to go in by force ."

"I see..." Optimus responded to the young Avatar, truthfuly understanding their actions. "However, under strict Autobot code, I refuse to murder any alien lifeform."

"We wern't intending on doing that Optimus," Katara replied with a smile. Optimus, relieved, then got out his blaster and switched it to stun.

"Let's roll," was Optimus' response before transforming and heading to the palace while the Gaang got back up on Appa and started flying there again.

* * *

Once Optimus reached the gates, he immediately transformed and leaped over the wall, taking out the anti-air weapons with a sword that extended from his left arm and took out the earthbender guards with his stun cannon. Back up on Appa, Sokka was watching with great excitement.

"Oh man, look at that guy go!" Sokka exclaimed before Aang lept off Appa and took out a whole platoon of guards by earthbending the ground when he landed. The leader immediately ran off when he saw Optimus advancing with his advanced weaponry and towering height. The other three then got off Appa when he landed and joined Aang and Optimus in running to the palace, when two rows of guards came to them.

"Incoming!" Optimus declared as the guards earthbended projectiles from the ground and threw them at the Gaang. Aang, Toph, and Optimus went back to back to back, using airbending, earthbending, and sword slashing to make sure none of them made their target. Katara then water-whipped the guards away.

"Sorry!" she constantly kept saying to the guards she was taking out. Then another squad of guards came in, but Toph was quick to act as she earthbended the ground to raise up and go down like dominoes, almost crushing the guards.

"Sorry!" Katara said. "We just need to get through to see the Earth King!" Her apologies were unrecognized however as more earthbenders tossed the statues from the enterance at them, but Optimus blasted both of them to rubble before they hit them. Katara then froze some water from her vail to slide across the trench and in behind the guards as she waterbended all of them into the trench, then used her techniques to waterbend the guards in the enterance out of the way and into the trench as well. Aang then froze the trench to ensure that they would not get out. Then the five of them were ambushed as about 100 guards came from the enterance and shot more rocks at them. Optimus shielded the Gaang from this though, and blasted them all with his stun blaster.

"Seriously! We're actually on your guyses' (that's how he said it, no lie) side!" Sokka exclaimed to no avail as more guards surrounded them, but Toph and Aang earthbended up walls and used them to push both groups of guards away. They then made it to basically a fork in the road.

"Which way to the Earth King Toph?" Optimus asked the blind earthbender as she took care of even more guards.

"How should I know metal mouth!?" Toph replied. "I'm still voting we LEAVE Ba Sing Se!" Sokka then proceeded to look for the door to the throne. He opens one only to find a woman changing. She screamed and fainted at the sight of Sokka.

"Sorry! Wrong door!" Sokka said as he kept looking for the door when he spotted a huge golden gate. That one HAD to lead to the Earth King.

"Now THAT'S an impressive door," Sokka complimented. "It's gotta go somewhere." He then leaps upward in a position where he could kick the door down, but insted he hits it, and falls over. EPIC FAIL.

"Allow me," Optimus said as he walked over and blasted the door down with his blaster. Sokka's prediction was correct as they see the Earth King sitting on his throne, but they're too late. Long Fang and five Dai Lee agents were already there. All of them however were dumbstruck as they saw Optimus emerge from the smoke. One Dai Lee agent actually fainted at the sight of him. The Gaang and Optimus then drew their weapons at Long Fang while the four remaining agents positioned themselves to aprehend the five of them.

"We need to talk to you," Aang said to the Earth King.

"They're here to overthrow you," Long Fang responded. Optimus then stepped forward.

"That man is a criminal your highness, HE is the one who seeks to overthrow you," Optimus retaliated. "We are on your side. We are here to help."

"You have to trust us!" Katara added. Then the Earth King stood up, clearly not trusting them.

"You invade my palace, lay waste to all my guards, rip down my fancy door, and you extect me to trust you!?" he said to them with a hint of anger in his voice.

"He has a good point," Toph remarked to her friends.

"If you are on my side, then drop your weapons and stand down," the Earth King commanded. The Gaang then stopped their bending and Sokka put away his boomerang. Optimus however, looked at his new friends with confusion.

"We should do what he says Optimus," Aang said. "If we keep fighting, we'll only make things worse." Optimus understood Aang's point and put away his blaster and sword and retracted his faceplate. Aang then turned back to the Earth King. "See? We're friends your earthiness. Heh heh." The Earth King however, did not believe them and Long Fang motioned his agents to stone cuff the Gaang and chain Optimus to the ground. None of them retaliated, thinking that would only make things worse. Long Fang then smirked, feeling victory was almost in his grasp.

* * *

To be continued...


	2. The Earth King

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon.**

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Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 2: The Earth King

* * *

The Gaang and Optimus were shocked that the Earth King allowed Long Fang's agents to cuff them, even after they disarmed themselves like the Earth King commanded.

"Detain the assailants," Long Fang commanded as the four agents quickly went behind the five of them. Sokka could not believe that the king was allowing him to do this to them.

"But we dropped our weapons!" Sokka reminded. "We're your allies!"

"Make sure the Avatar, his friends and...whatever that thing on the ground is, never see daylight again," Long Fang said coldly and harshly, but when he mentioned the Avatar, that got the Earth King's attention.

"The Avatar?" he asked as he looked over at Sokka. "You're the Avatar?"

"Uh, no, him," Sokka relpied as he motioned his head to Aang.

"Over here," Aang said as he used his earthbending to de-cuff himself in order to show the Earth King that he was telling the truth.

"What does it matter your highness?" Long Fang asked. "They are enemies of the state."

"Perhaps you're right," the Earth King responded, looking away to think to himself. Then his pet bear, "Bosco," came up and licked Aang, a clear sign of friendliness. "Though Bosco seems to like him. I'll hear what he has to say." Long Fang narrowed his eyes at Aang. He's ever so slowly starting to gain the Earth King's trust, but no matter. His victory was inevitable to him. Aang then stepped forward to tell the Earth King what he had to say.

"Well sir," Aang started. "There's a war going on right now. For the past 100 years in fact. The Dai-Lees kept it secret from you. It's a conspiracy to gain control of the city and to control you."

"A secret war!?" the Earth King exclaimed. "That's crazy!"

"Completely," Long Fang added.

"Long Fang didn't want us to tell you," Aang continued. "So he stole our sky bison to blackmail us, and blackmailing is the least of his crimes! He brainwashed our friend and then murdered him in cold blood!"

"All lies," Long Fang told the Earth King, which itself was a lie. "I've never seen a sky bison your majesty, frankly I thought they were extinct."

"Your claim is difficult to believe, even from an Avatar," the Earth King stated while he sat back on his throne. Long Fang then walked up to him to add fuel to the fire.

"These hooligans are part of an anarchist cell that my agents have been tracking for weeks," he whispered to the Earth King, who was quite shocked as to what he had to say. "If you listen to them, you're playing right into your own destruction." Just then, Optimus let out a groan as he tried to get up from the chains.

"If you trust him your highness, you'll risk the lives of your people..." Optimus claimed, believing that is they keep ignoring the war, the Fire Nation will invade the city and millions of earthbenders will die. The Earth King then thought for a few seconds, before coming to a conclusion. Unfortunately, it wasn't the one the Gaang nor Optimus wanted to hear.

"I have to trust my advisor," he declared as Long Fang smirked again, believing he had won. One of the agents then forcefully pulls a shocked Aang back to the others and away from the Earth King. They then started to drag everyone to the exit when Sokka forcefully turned around. He had remembered something that Long fang had said that could make everything start to come crashing down for him.

"Wait!" he exclaimed. "I can prove he's lying. Long fang said he's never seen a sky bison. Ask him to lift his robe." Fang's eyes widened for a second, for he knew that Appa had bitten him in his left leg.

"What!?" he said, trying to hide that. "I am not disrobing!" The Earth King just looked down at Sokka giving him a 'What the hell?' look. Sokka and Aang then nodded to each other before Aang let out a gust of wind from his mouth and blew Long Fang's robe up, revealing a bite mark on his left leg.

"Right there! Appa bit him!" Aang claimed.

"Never met a sky bison, huh?" Sokka sarcastically asked. Long Fang then pushed his robe down, thinking of another lie to get him out of this.

"That happens to be a large birth mark," he said. "Thanks for showing everyone," he added sarcastically.

"Well I suppose there's no way to prove where those marks came from," the Earth King claimed.

"Of course there is!" Sokka proclaimed, thinking of another idea.

* * *

A few minutes later they brought Appa into the throne room. Appa opened his mouth as his teeth and the marks on Long Fang's leg were compared. The Earth King looked at them for a few seconds.

"Yep, that pretty much proves it," he concluded. When he said those words, the Gaang cheered for themselves while Optimus smiled slightly. A small victory can lead to great results. However, they wern't out of the fire yet. "But it doesn't prove this crazy conspiracy theory." Those words made the Gaang simply groan to themselves. "Though, I suppose this matter's worth looking into."

"Uh, okay," the four children replied as they were decuffed and Optimus was released from his chains, much to Long Fang's dissaproval.

* * *

Over at a train, the civilians riding it were still in shock that the Earth King was inside it with them. The Earth King looked around this train, observing his surroundings, mainly because he was never on one before.

"So this is what a train is like..." he said. "I didn't realize it would be this...public."

"So, you've never been outside the upper ring before?" Katara asked.

"I've never been outside the palace," the Earth King responded. "Now THAT'S the way to travel!" He said as he looked outside and pointed at Aang riding on Appa and Optimus driving beside the train in his semi-truck mode. "So, may I ask where we're going?"

"Underneath Lake Laogi, your kinglyness," Sokka responded. "To the Dai-Lee's secret headquarters. You're about to see where all the brainwashing and conspiring took place."

* * *

When they all got there though, Toph earthbended the entrance, but found a pile of rocks insted.

"It's gone!" Toph exclaimed.

"Oh, don't tell me!" Sokka groaned, getting sick of the Dai-Lee getting one step ahead. "That's okay, still got my positive attitude." Optimus meanwhile was in shock as to how crafty these small lifeforms could be.

"The Dai-Lee must have known we were coming and destroyed the evidence!" Katara proclaimed as the Earth King started to get suspicious.

"Hm, that seems awfully convenient," he said.

"Hey, if anything, it proves the conspiracy exists even more," Sokka said, trying to find some positive in this, but it was no use.

"Long Fang was right," the Earth king concluded. "This was a waste of time. If you'll excuse me, I'm going back to the palace." Him and his guards then turned around and started to walk away. The Gaang and Optimus were about to give up hope when Katara remembered something.

"The wall!" she said. Days ago, the Fire Nation launched an assult lead by Fire Nation princess and firebending prodogy, Azula, and tried to use a mammoth drill to penetrate the walls that surrounded the city. They failed though, and the drill was destroyed. "They'll never be able to cover that up in time!"

"Oh yeah!" Aang said as he leaped himself to the Earth King to catch him in time. "If you come with us to the outer wall, we can prove to you that the secret war is real." The Earth King however, wanted to do no such thing.

"No Earth King has ever been to the outer wall," he responded. "I don't have anymore time for this nonsense."

"If you come with us, this time you can ride on Appa," Sokka tempted. That got the Earth King to stop dead in his tracks, and thought about reconsidering his answer.

* * *

The Earth King simply screamed for his life as he rode on Appa with the Gaang. Optimus was following close behind in his truck mode to the wall where the drill should be.

"First time flying?" Toph asked him.

"It's both thrilling, and terrifying," the Earth King responded.

"Yeah, I hate it too," Toph added.

"I have to be honest with you," the Earth King said. "Part of me really wishes that what you're telling me about this war...isn't true." Aang simply looked down, thinking of all the lives the Fire Nation has destroyed.

"I wish it wasn't," he responded. Then they started to get closer to the wall, and thankfuly, the wreckage of the drill was still there. The Dai-Lee were too late to cover it up. "It's still there!" Aang exclaimed. The Earth King was in shock at the wreckage.

"What is that?" he asked.

"It's a drill," Sokka answered. "A giant drill made by the Fire Nation to break through your walls." The Earth King looked in awe at the monstrosity, coming to one conclusion: everything the Gaang said was true. Optimus too was in shock as he got up the wall and looked down at the drill. The Fire Nation were far more technologically advanced than he originally thought.

* * *

Later, Appa landed on top of the wall beside Optimus as everyone gazes down at the wreckage.

"By Primus..." was all Optimus could say.

"Yes..." the Earth King responded. "I can't believe I never knew..." Just then, Long Fang and two agents came up in an elevator type lift.

"I can explain this your majesty..." he said calmly, though inside his head, he was panicking. He couldn't think of a lie that would be full proof. The evidence was literally right bellow them. "This is nothing more than...a construction project." Oh please...

"Really?" Katara asked, knowing he's running out of ways to deceive the Earth King. "Then perhaps you could explain why there's a Fire Nation insignia on your 'construction project'." The Earth King then looked at Long Fang, now catching on to his lies.

"Well it's imported of course," Long Fang responded half-assly. "You know you can't trust domestic machinery." It wasn't working. The Earth King, the Gaang, and Optimus still glared at him. "Surely you don't believe these children and, whatever that metal monstrosity is, insted of your most loyal attendant!" It didn't work. The Earth King knew what to do now.

"Dai-Lee, arrest Long Fang," he ordered, much to Long Fang's shock. "I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom." The Dai-Lee did just that, shocking Long Fang even more.

"You can't arrest me!" Long Fang exclaimed as he was dragged away. "You all need me more than you know!"

"Looks like Long Fang is 'long gone!'" Sokka joked, which even Optimus had to groan slightly at along with everyone else. "Oh yeah, I've been waiting to use that one!"

"Unidentified objects aproaching the wall your highness!" one of the Earth King's guards reported. The others then looked down and saw three vehicles drive up to the wall. Most of them didn't know how to react, but Optimus' optics widened in disbelief and relief.

"Autobots," Optimus responded. "They're alive..."

"Wait, there's MORE of you!?" Toph asked. Just as she asked, the three vehicles, a yellow and black muscle car, a red army van and a red tank, all futuristic, transformed into Bumbblebee, Ironhide and Warpath.

"Optimus!" Ironhide proclaimed. "You're alive!"

"That I am old friend," Optimus responded. "That I am. Open the gate your majesty, they're friendly." The Earth King didn't have to be told twice and motioned for the gate to be opened.

* * *

Back at the throne room, the Earth King was estatic.

"This is incredible!" he proclaimed. "Intelligent lifeforms from another planet!"

"(Why does that surprise you?)" Bumbblebee asked in his beeps and bloops, much to everyone's confusion.

"Bumbblebee's vocal processors were damaged in battle," Optimus said. "He has lost the ability to speak until we can fix them. Thankfully we can understand what he is saying." Toph just had to chuckle at his name.

"Bumbblebee?" she asked. "What kind of a name is that?" This of course got her a glare from said scout, which Toph couldn't see anyway.

"So, what did he say?" Katara asked.

"He asked the Earth King why the fact that we are alien lifeforms here surprises him," Optimus answered.

"Oh, well we've never even known that life existed outside this planet," the Earth King responded.

"You're THAT primative of a race!?" Ironhide exclaimed.

"They are a young species Ironhide," Optimus said to his old friend. "They still have much to learn."

"Well, I'd like to start by learning about you and where you come from" the Earth King said.

"Very well," Optimus responded. "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. These are three of my comrades from Cybertron, out top scout, Bumbblebee," Toph still couldn't help but giggle at his name, to which she was greated with a small series of angry beeping from Bumbblebee, to which Optimus would much rather not translate. "As I was saying, one of our oldest soldiers, Ironhide, and one of our rookies, Warpath."

"(Pleased to meet you all,)" Bumbblebee responded.

"Yeah yeah, so when do we get to, BAM! bust some Decepticon heads!?" Warpath exclaimed, causing the Earth King to raise an eyebrow at the word 'Decepticons' along with the Gaang.

"What is a Decepticon?" the Earth King and the Gaang asked simultaneously. Optimus knew that he had to tell them sooner or later, so he activated projectors from his eyes which displayed the planet Cybertron.

"Our world was once a powerful empire," Optimus started. "Peaceful and just, until we were betrayed, by Megatron." He then switched to an image of Megatron, standing with his fusion cannon in his arm and with a look of pure evil that sent chills down everyone's spines except Toph. "Megatron believed that corruption was sweeping the planet from the ruling class, the High Council. During those times, I was a clerk for the Hall of Records named 'Orion Pax.' He and I were once close allies who saught to end corruption, and bring equality to all Cybertronians. One day, we appeared before the High Council, and to my shock, he threatened them by promising that he would overthrow the council and instate himself as the next Prime."

"Wait," Aang said. "The 'Prime' in your name is a title?"

"Yes," Optimus answered. "Being a Prime is the highest rank of any Cybertronian. Anyway, Megatron's hostile intentions left myself in shock, so I provided my own speech in favor of autonomy, and was succesful. Jealous, Megatron assembled a group of followers, and formed a army that he named "The Decepticons." And thus began the war." It was that word that reminded the Earth King of the now not-so-secret war.

"The war!" he exclaimed, looking down to the floor, ashamed of himself for letting Long Fang fool him for so long. "All this time, what I thought was a great metropolis, was mearly a city of fools, and that makes me the king fool. We're at war! With the Fire Nation!"

"That's why we came to Ba Sing Se your highness," Sokka said. "Because we think you can help us end the war."

"We don't have much time," Aang added. "There's a comet coming this summer. It's energy will give the firebenders unbelievable strength."

"Yeah?" Ironhide interupted. "Well I'd like to see em get past me! Even with their 'all powerful' comet!"

"Easy Ironhide," Optimus said. Toph on the other hand smirked at what he said.

'I think I'm gonna like Ironhide,' she thought.

"Anyway," Aang continued. "If the comet comes before we can end the war, they'll be unstoppable."

"But there is hope," Sokka added. "Before the comet comes, we'll have a window of opportunity. A solar eclipse is coming. The Sun will be entirely blocked out by the Moon, and the firebenders will be helpless."

"What are you suggesting Sokka?" the Earth King asked.

"That's the day we need to invade the Fire Nation, the Day of Black Sun," Sokka replied, much to the Earth King's shock.

"I don't know..." he said, looking away to think about this. "That would require moving troops out of Ba Sing Se. We'd be completely vulnerable."

"Vulnerable my exaust port!" Warpath responded. "Did you SEE that wall!?"

"And besides, you're ALREADY vulnerable," Sokka added. "The Fire Nation won't stop until Ba Sing Se falls. You can either sit back and wait for that to happen, or take the offensive, and give yourself a fighting chance. Plus, look at these guys!" He then motioned to the four Autobots in the throne room. "With them on our side, winning the war will be a snap!" The Earth King just placed his hand on his chin and thought about all of this for a few seconds before coming to a conclusion.

"Very well," he answered. "You have my support."

"And you have our's," Optimus added. Hearing this caused the four childred to cheer in victory, and Aang to form an air...whatever it is he forms to ride on, but that was cut short when a man walked into the throne room.

"Your majesty," he said as he walked up to the Earth King. "I apologize for the interruption." Once he walked up to the Earth King, he got on his knees and bowed.

"This is General How," the Earth King said. "He's the leader of the Council of Five, my highest ranking generals." How then rose up to say what he had to report.

"We searched Long Fang's office," he reported. "I think we found something that will interest the children."

* * *

While the children waited for How to get what he was talking about, they decided to get to know the other three Autobots first. Toph obviously went up to Ironhide.

"Couldn't help but hear you talk about standing up to the Fire Nation Ironhide," she said. "Gotta say, I'm liking you already."

"That so kid?" Ironhide replied before he remembered something. Optimus earlier mentioned that this one was blind. "Prime told me that you couldn't see, so how did you know where I was?"

"I can 'see' with earthbending," Toph responded. "Kinda like seeing with my feet."

"So you can sense the earth bellow you?" Ironhide asked.

"Yup!" Toph said with a proud grin on her face. Ironhide was slightly baffled by this, but he heard of stranger things.

"Anyway, since you know my name, what's your's kid?" he asked.

"Name's Toph," she answered.

"Well then Toph," Ironhide replied. "Welcome to the team." Sokka meanwhile decided to go up to Warpath.

"What can I do for ya?" Warpath asked.

"I kinda wanted to get to know you a bit better Warpath," Sokka answered. Warpath was more than happy to respond.

"Gladly!" he responded. "Name's Warpath of course, and I'm the toughest bot around!"

"I beg to differ rookie," Ironhide interupted.

"What's wrong rusty?" Warpath replied. "Jealous!?"

"WHAT'D YA CALL ME!?" Ironhide yelled. Sokka just covered his mouth, trying hard not to burst out laughing. Oh yeah, he was gonna like Warpath. While that was going on, Katara decided to go up to Bumbblebee, but there was one obvious problem, she couldn't understand what he was saying, so she went up to Optimus to see what he could do.

"Optimus?" she asked. "Do you think there could be a way to understand what Bumbblebee is saying?"

"I believe there is," Optimus responded as he got out a small device. "This is a translator. It records what one is saying and then transcribes it into any language in the known universe."

"I don't think that's a good idea Prime," Ironhide retaliated. "You know how often Wheeljack's inventions blow up in our faces!"

"He was also the one that helped perfect Superion's weapons," Optimus argued as he handed the translator to Katara. She then walked up to Bumbblebee and turned the translator on.

"Hi Bumbblebee," Katara said to the Autobot scout.

"(Hello, what is your name?)" Bumbblebee responded. The words that he said then appeared in English in the screen of the translator.

"My name's Katara," she responded. Bumbblebee's optics widened a bit since it was a while since anyone besides Optimus knew what he was saying.

"Well whadya know," Ironhide commented. "One of Jackie's inventions actually worked!" Katara was curious as to who this "Wheeljack" was after hearing him be mentioned twice.

"Who's Wheeljack?" Katara asked Bumbblebee.

"(He's one of Cybertron's top scientists,) he responded. "(He's the one who helped upgrade our technology to fight the Cons, although some inventions worked better than others if you know what I mean...)" Katara couldn't help but chuckle at that last statement. Then a guard holding a small box along with How and the Earth King entered the room.

"There are secret files on everyone in Ba Sing Se, including you kids," How reported. The Earth King opened the box meanwhile to see what's inside.

"Secret files?" Aang asked.

"Toph Bei Fong," the Earth King said as he came across one, then gave it to Toph who gave it to Katara for her to read.

"It's a leter from your mom," Katara said to Toph as she read it. "Your mom's here in the city, and she wants to see you!" That statement made Toph's eyes widen in surprise. After leaving her parents to teach Aang earthbending and to get away from her isolated world back home, she's surprised that her mother wants anything to do with her.

"Long Fang intercepted our letters from home?" Toph asked. "That's just sad."

"Agreed" Ironhide added.

"Aang," the Earth King said as he gave a letter to him. Aang took the letter and started to read it.

"This scroll was attached to the horn of your bison when the Dai-Lee captured it," How said.

"It's from the Eastern Air temple!" Aang said, surprised that someone was writing from the Eastern Air Temple.

"Is there a letter for me and Sokka by any chance?" Katara asked.

"I'm afraid not," the Earth King responded.

"But there is an inteligance report that might interest you," How added while he handed it to Katara. She opened it, and was surprised as to what it said.

"A small fleet of Water Tribe ships?" Katara stated as she read it, immediately gaining Sokka's attention.

"What!? That could be Dad!" Sokka proclaimed, hopeful that it was in fact their long lost father, Hakoda. Katara continued  
reading.

"Protecting the mouth of Chameleon Bay," she read, then the last sentence immediately made her and her brother burst with joy. "Lead by Hakoda! IT IS DAD!"

* * *

After reading the leters, the Gaang and the Autobots discussed what they were going to do.

"I can't believe it," Aang said as he read his message. "There's a man living at the Eastern Air Temple. He says he's a guru!"

"What's a guru?" Sokka asked. "Some kind of poisonous blowfish?"

"No," Aang answered. "He's a spiritual expert. He wants to help me take the next step in the Avatar journey. He says he can teach me how to control the Avatar State!"

"What is the Avatar State?" Optimus asked.

"Well, when he's really hurt, his tattoos and eyes start glowing and his bending power increases tenfold," Katara explained to the Autobot leader. "Anyway, I can't believe we we know where Dad is now!"

"I know what you mean," Toph added. "My mom's in the city, and from her letter it sounds like she finally understands me."

"This is all such big news!" Sokka stated. "Where do we even start?"

"I hate to say it, but...we have to split up," Katara answered.

"Split up!?" Aang responded in disbelief. "W-we just found Appa and brought the family back together! Now you want us to separate?"

"You have to meet this guru Aang," Katara replied. "If we're gonna invade the Fire Nation, you need to be ready." Aang hated to admit it, but she was right.

"Well, if I'm going to the Eastern Air Temple, Appa and I can drop you off on Chameleon Bay to see your dad!" Aang said, finding a positive to this.

"Someone has to stay with the Earth King and help him prepare for the invasion," Sokka added. "I guess that's me..." He didn't want to give up a chance to see his father, but this was far more important. Katara however stood up after he did.

"No Sokka," she said to her brother. "I know how badly you wanna help Dad. You go to Chameleon Bay. I'll stay here with the king." Sokka was taken back by her sister's generous offer and ran up to hug her, tearing up slightly.

"You, are the, nicest, sister, ever!" he said before giving her a kiss on the cheek, to which Katara pushed him aside for.

"Easy there big brother," she said. "...Though you're right, I am." Optimus then stepped forward.

"The Autobots and I will split up as well to keep you safe," he declared. "Warpath, you will go with Sokka to Chameleon Bay."

"Got it boss!" Warpath responded.

"Ironhide, you will accompany Toph," Optimus said to his old friend.

"Yes sir," Ironhide replied, to which made Toph grin.

"Sweet!" was her response.

"Bumbblebee will watch over Katara, and I will remain here as well to assist the Earth King with the invasion," Optimus said, and with that, they left the room and prepared to split up.

* * *

Outside the palace, everyone was ready. Aang and Sokka were getting ready, Warpath was getting a prototype jetpack on so he could follow them, and Toph was inside Ironhide's van mode, ready to roll. Then the Earth King came down the steps to them. Aang took this time to speek with Katara.

"Katara?" Aang asked. "I need to tell you something. I've been wanting to say it for a long time." Aang started to blush slightly at those words, obviously indicating the crush he has on Katara.

"What is it Aang?" Katara asked with a smile, which only made Aang more nervous.

"Katara, I-" he couldn't finish when Sokka came up and noogied him in a friendly gesture.

"Alright!" he said enthusiastically (or like they were Bill & Ted). "Who's ready to go on a men only man trip!?" Katara just gave an "uh" look and walked off.

"Aang and Sokka," the Earth King said once he reached them. "I wish you a good journey. Ba Sing Se owes you its thanks, and we look forward to your safe return." The three of them bowed their heads in respect.

"Your majesty," a guard said as he came up to the Earth King and as Sokka started getting on Appa. "There are three female warriors here to see you. They're from the island of Kyoshi." Sokka immediately realized who they were, and who was with them.

"THAT'S SUKI!" he said enthusiastically as he accidenatlly looses his grip on Appa and falls off, causing Warpath to chuckle slightly.

"You know these warriors?" Optimus asked as he came up to Sokka, who was getting up, groaning in pain.

"Oh yeah," he answered. "The Kyoshi Warriors are a skilled group of fighters. Trustworthy too. They're good friends of ours." Optimus and the Earth King nodded once in understanding.

"Then we shall welcome them as honored guests," the Earth King proclaimed as the guard bowed his head and walked off to allow them in the city. Aang was about to get on Appa when Katara stopped him.

"Wait, Aang," she said as she came up and hugged him, causing Aang to blush slightly again, which grew when she kissed him on the cheek. Toph then got out of Ironhide to say goodbye to her friends.

"I'm really gonna miss you guys," Toph said.

"Me too," Katara said as she went up to hug her.

"Yeah," Aang said as he went up to hug her as well. Sokka on the other hand just crossed his arms and looked away, but then the other three went up to form a group hug, which caused Sokka to scream a bit.

"Great, that's enough," he tried to say, but he couldn't prevent himself from returning the hug. "Okay, we love each other...seriously."

* * *

Afterward, Ironhide and Toph left for her mother and Aang and Sokka left to Chameleon Bay on Appa with Warpath flying behind them using his jet-pack.

"WHOO-HOOOOO!" the rookie bot couldn't help but shout.

"You see Aang?" Sokka said to his friend while lying on Appa's back. "A little positive thinking does wonders. We got the king on our side, we got Long Fang arrested, we got giant mechanical ailens to help us, and when we get back, Suki's waiting for me." Then Warpath flew beside Appa.

"Hey, wanna race!?" he asked enthusiastically as always. Aang just smirked, accepting his challenged and had Appa go faster with Warpath boosting the thrusters on his jet-pack.

* * *

Meanwhile back with Toph, Ironhide pulled up at Toph's house. Toph immediately got out, feeling carsick and starts throwing up.

"Ugh! And I thought ridding on Appa made me sick!" Toph exclaimed.

"I'll be waiting out here," Ironhide said, still in his vehicle mode. Toph, once felt better, started to walk up to her house. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Hello?" she said once she was inside. "Mom? Anyone home?" No answer. So she started to walk around the house to search for anyone. Then she sensed something was up, but was too late to act as a metal box came down and trapped her inside.

* * *

Back outside, Ironhide heard something, transformed, and switched his blaster to stun.

* * *

"AAHH! Hey! Who do you think you're dealing with!?" Toph demanded as two earthbenders, Master Yu and the earthbending tournament host, Xin Fu, came down.

"One loud-mouthed little brat who strayed too far from home," Xin Fu responded cold heartedly.

* * *

As Yu and Xin Fu got out of the house, Xin carrying the box that Toph was in, both of them screamed at the sight of Ironhide pointing his blaster at him.

"Goin' somewhere?" he said, but just then, Xin earthbended a huge section of the house and threw it at Ironhide's head, which sent him flying and into a temporary stasis while Yu and Xin got away.

* * *

Back at Ba Sing Se, two rows of soldiers lined up to the left and the right as three Kyoshi dressed girls walked to the Earth King. Once there, the three of them got on their knees and bowed to him.

"In our hour of need, it is with the highest honor that I welcome our esteemed allies, the Kyoshi Warriors!" he announced. Then the three girls rose up, remaining on their knees.

"We are the Earth King's humble servants," said their leader, but unknown to anyone, was really the Fire Nation princess Azula in disguise. The two behind her were her friends Mai and Ty-Lee. The three of them took the clothes from Suki and the real Kyoshi Warriors after defeating them.

Unknown to anyone accept them, the Fire Nation has succesfully infiltrated Ba Sing Se.

* * *

But unknown even to them, they were being watched by a bird shaped drone who was recording everything Azula said. After the ceremony, the drone flew to the wall...where Soundwave was waiting for it. The drone, a Decepticon named "Laserbeak'" then folded slightly and placed itself on Soundwave's chest. Soundwave then went through the recording, ran a lie detector, and found out that Azula was lying. He then transformed into a futuristic drone and flew away from the city. His appearence meant only one thing...

The Decepticons are on Earth...

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	3. Friendships Growing, Alliances Forming

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 3: Friendships Growing, Alliances Forming

* * *

At Chameleon Bay, Sokka and Warpath were getting ready to meet Sokka's father, Hakoda, while Aang was getting ready to leave for the Eastern Air Temple to see this guru.

"You haven't seen your dad in over two years!" Aang said to his friend. "You must be so excited!" That however was the last thing you'd think of if you saw Sokka's face, showing that he's nauseous and was about ready to throw up.

"I know I should be, but I just feel sick to my stomach," he exclaimed.

"Don't be nervous," Aang said to try and make him feel better. "He's gonna be so happy to see you!" That got Sokka to smile a bit before impatient Warpath butted in.

"Yeah yeah, so are we gonna meet this guy or what?" he asked impatiently.

"Just a second cheater," Sokka answered, thinking he cheated to win the race he challenged them to.

"I told you, I, ZOOM! creamed ya fair and square!" Warpath replied before Sokka turned back to Aang.

"What about you?" he asked. "Are you nervous to meet this guru?"

"Not at all," Aang responded confidently. "I'm ready to master the Avatar State. I'll do whatever it takes." With that, Sokka got off of Appa and landed beside Warpath. "See you in a week. Yip-Yip!" was what Aang said before Appa took off to the Eastern Air Temple and Sokka and Warpath walked to a Water Tribe camp site. Sokka took a deep breath while he walked.

"So what's your dad like Sokka?" Warpath asked.

"Well let's put it this way," Sokka answered with a smile. "Katara once told me that if he was my age, we'd be twin brothers. Trust me, you're gonna like him."

* * *

As they neared the camp, multiple Water Tribe soldiers surrounded Warpath with their weapons drawn.

"It's okay, he's with me!" Sokka explained. When they looked at him, they instantly recognized him and lowered their weapons. They then walked up to great him as though they were all older brothers to him.

"Sokka, good to see ya!" One of them said. They then moved out of the way for Sokka to walk up to a large tent, where obviously his father was. When he opened it, Hakoda was there, planning their next moves, when he saw Sokka. His eyes widened and he smiled.

"Sokka," he said as he got up and walked to him.

"Hi Dad," Sokka responded as he walked up to hug his father.

* * *

Meanwhile back at Ba Sing Se, Azula, Mai, and Ty-Lee, still disguised as Kyoshi Warriors, were introduced more formaly to the Earth King in his throne room. His pet bear Bosco was beside him.

"Look Bosco," the Earth King said to his pet. "The Kyoshi Warriors are here to protect us! Arn't you excited?" Bosco's response was to simply yawn. "It's been a difficult week for me," he said, now talking to the girls. "My most trusted adviser, Long Fang, and his Dai-Lee agents tried to take control of Ba Sing Se away from me."

"It's terrible when you can't trust the people who are closest to you," Azula responded.

"But there is good news," the Earth King added while petting Bosco's head. "As we speak, the Council of Five is meeting to plan an invasion of the Fire Nation this summer, on the day of a solar eclipse!" After hearing that, Azula's eyes widened ever so slightly. Now she was obtaining information of a strike against the Fire Nation, which means she can report this to her father, and plan a defense. This was just getting better and better for her.

"Really?" she said, trying not to sound too surprised. "Now that sounds like a fascinating and brilliant plan."

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS: PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Far away from Ba Sing Se, Soundwave in his drone mode flew into a cave and transformed, where Starscream, along with two other seekers named "Thundercracker" and "Skywarp," two human sized Decepticons named "Frenzy" and "Rumble," and a robotic jaguar Decepticon named "Ravage" were waiting for him.

"Well Soundwave?" Starscream said, sitting on a stone throne. Megatron has not yet been found, so now he is the leader of the Decepticons. "What have you found out about this world?" Soundwave then played back everything he found out, and his last recordings were what got Starscream's attention. Three humans planning to overtake an entire city through deception. "Hm... perhaps we should pay this 'Princess Azula' a visit."

"Why are we wasting our time with a couple of fleshies?" Rumble asked.

"Soundwave has found out that the Fire Nation is the most technologically advanced of these four nations," Starscream answered. "If we're going to get the energy we need to get back to Cybertron, they're our best option. Besides...I looked up their history, and I admire their ruthless actions..."

* * *

At the Council of Five's meeting at General Fong's base, How and the other four generals, along with optimus and Katara were going over the invasion plan.

"General Fong's base will searve as the launching point for the attack," How said as he earthbended stone pieces on a map of the Four Nations to demonstrate their plans for the invasion. "Optimus, if you may, please go over the plans." Optimus then stepped forward.

"In exactly two months, the army and navy will invade the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun," Optimus said. "The navy will move in to the left of the capital, half of the army will move in to the right, and the Autobots and I, along with the other half of the army, will engage in a frontal assault." Just as he finished that, Momo jumped onto the map and started playing with the pieces.

"Or we could send in Momo to do some damage," Katara joked as she started chuckling. None of the generals however found this funny. "Cause...the...sorry." How then earthbended the pieces back up, spooking Momo and causing him to fly away from the board.

"All we need is the Earth King's seal in order to exicute the plan," How said as he handed the seal to Katara.

"I'll get these scrolls to him right away," she replied. "Thank you General How," She then bowed her head before she and Optimus walked out of the base.

* * *

Aang, in the meantime, flew up to the Eastern Air Temple on Appa, where the guru was waiting for him. Once he landed, he looked around for this guru.

"Um, hello?" Aang said confusingly once he found him meditating, not paying attention to him. He then got off of Appa and walked up to him.

"You're Guru Pathik, right?" Aang asked the guru. "The person who attached the note to Appa's horn?"

"Indeed," Pathik responded, still meditating. "I was a spiritual brother of your people, and a personal friend of Monk Gyatso."

"In your note," Aang started as he sat down in front of Pathnik. "You said you could teach me to gain control of the Avatar State. How?"

"You must gain balance within yourself, before you can bring balance to the world." the guru answered. "And the first step to gaining balance begins with this." He then gets out a bowl full of some kind of liquid. "Drink up." Aang responds by taking the bowl and taking a sip. The result: him immediately spitting it out.

"UGH!" he exclaimed. "It tastes like onion and banana juice!"

"That's because it is," Pathnik responded before drinking from his own bowl of onion and banana juice. "Yum yum." Afterwards, he just hovered it over his head with his hand. Aang looked at him as though he was crazy.

'This is gonna take longer than I thought,' Aang thought to himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Master Yu and Xin Tu were transporting Toph away via an ostrich horse, not caring that they just kidnapped a 12 year old child. Toph, who was still inside the metal box, was concerned for Ironhide. Even though she didn't sense what happened, Xin obviously harmed him from what she heard.

"I believe we need to go right!" Yu argued to Xin.

"What are you talking about!?" he responded. "The Bei Fong estate is this way."

"I'm quite certain you're mistaken," Yu said before Toph started banging on the walls that surrounded her.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO IRONHIDE!?" Toph demanded.

"You're new friend has been 'taken care of,'" Xin responded coldly. "Now pipe down!" Toph just banged on the walls even harder.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE SO I CAN KICK BOTH OF YOUR BUTTS!" she demanded.

"Quit your banging!" Xin responded after banging on the box back. "You might think you're the greatest earthbender in the world, but even YOU can't bend metal." Afterward, they continued forward. Toph just sat down to herself, hoping Ironhide was okay.

* * *

Minutes afterward, back where Toph was ambushed. Ironhide awoke from stasis.

"Ugh, what happened?" he asked himself while rubbing his head. Then it hit him, and his optics widened.

"Toph!" he exclaimed before transforming and following the footsteps made by some creature in the sand.

* * *

Back at Ba Sing Se, in her private quarters given to her by the Earth King, Azula was thinking to herself all of the advantages she had been given while Mai and Ty-Lee were getting their Kyoshi makeup off.

"We have been presented with an extraordinary opportunity girls," Azula stated to her friends.

"Mai finally gets to wear makeup that's not tottaly depressing?" Ty-Lee joked.

"Ha-ha," Mai responded sarcastically.

"I'm talking about conquring the whole Earth Kingdom," Azula responded, which immediately got Mai and Ty-Lee's attention. "For 100 years, the Fire Nation has hammered away at from the outside, but now we're on the INSIDE, and we can take it by ourselves."

"Gosh, you're so confident," Ty-Lee commented about her friend. "I really admire that about you."

"From the inside, we're in perfect position to organize a coup, and overthrow the Earth King. The Key is the Dai Lee. Whoever controls the Dai Lee, controls Ba Sing Se."

"Oh, I almost forgot something Azula," Mai said. "Someone left a letter for us." She then hands a scroll to Azula, which she opens and reads. What she reads, made her eyes widen in shock.

"We know who you really are," the scroll said. "Unless you want your secret to be told, meet us outside the wall in these coordinates." Ty-Lee and Mai look at the note as well.

"Why am I not surprised?" Mai responded dryly. Ty-Lee on the other hand, was panicking slightly.

"What are we gonna do Azula!?" she asked. After her shock died down, Azula merely burned the note, destroying the only piece of evidance against them, after memorizing the coordinates.

"We're going to pay our 'new friends' a visit," Azula responded.

* * *

Back at Chameleon Bay, Sokka, Hakoda and Warpath were putting the finishing touches on a homemade bomb. Hakoda in the meantime got to know more about Sokka's new friend.

"So, you're a soldier where you come from?" Hakoda asked Warpath.

"Yep!" Warpath responded. "Anything you want gone..." He then turned and fired at a rock from the turrate of his tank more which stuck out slightly from his chest and blasted the rock to bits. "...KAPOWWE!" Hakoda couldn't help but smile, knowing why Sokka would befriend him.

"I like him already," he told his son. Just then, a soldier rushed up to Hakoda.

"Hakoda," he said. "Our scouts have spotted four Fire Nation ships."

"Bato, get the mines loaded," Hakoda commanded. "The rest of you men, prepare for battle."

"Uh, what should I do Dad?" Sokka asked as the men were rushing to get ready.

"Arn't you listening?" Hakoda asked. "I said 'The rest of you men get ready for battle.'" Sokka's eyes widened after he said what he said and immediately went up with a smile.

"You too Warpath," Hakoda added as Sokka went up to join the others. Warpath, as usual, was estatic with what he just said.

"YAAAAHOOOO!" Warpath shouted with joy. "Finally! A chance to, BOOM! blow somethin' up!"

* * *

Meanwhile at Ba Sing Se, Azula, Mai and Ty-Lee were at the coordinates the mysterious note told them to be in their Kyoshi disguises, but no one was there. They had waited for an hour and now, it was getting dark.

"The note said to meet here, didn't it?" Ty-Lee asked. Azula was starting to grow impatient.

"Is this some sort of joke!?" she shouted. "This is no way to treat a Kyoshi Warrior!"

"But you arn't a Kyoshi Warrior, arn't you?" said a sinister voice in the shadows, which caused the three girls to turn Then, something moved forward, and the voice in the shadows...was revealed to be Starscream.

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

**I know, I didn't write any of the scenes with Aang and the guru, I'm lazy sometimes, but it's simple if you want to know what happens, WATCH THE DAMN SHOW! :D**


	4. Starting the Fire

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

* * *

Chapter 4: Starting the Fire

* * *

Azula, Mai, and Ty-Lee were looking up at Starscream in absolute awe. (well, Ty-Lee was more so terrified) They couldn't accept that there was a towering metal lifeform standing in front of them. And as if that wasn't enough, three more metal monstrosities came from the shadows, two of which who looked exactly like Starscream with the exception of the way they were colored. Beside them were two human sized robots and a metal jaguar. Once all of the shock was out of her system, Azula started to speak.

"Alright, now that we have that out of the way, who and what are you?" Azula asked.

"Very well then, I am Starscream," he responded. "And these are my colleagues, Soundwave, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, and-" He stopped suddenly when he realized someone was missing.

"Where's Knock Out!?" he demanded. Right on que, a red futuristic sports car came up and transformed into the Decepticon medic, "Knock Out."

"Can you believe what this sand can do to my finish!? Ugh!" Knock Out exclaimed as Starscream now knows why he had been missing.

"You were out joy riding, wern't you?" Starscream asked in an intimidating yet obviously aggrivated tone.

"If I'm going to be stuck here in a primative world with a bunch of ugly flesh creatures, the least I can do is TRY and have a bit of fun once in a while Starscream," Knock Out explained. Ty-Lee was taken back by his insult to 'flesh creatures.'

"Hey! We're not ugly!" she claimed. Starscream simply motioned for her to be quiet.

"Be that as it may Knockout, I strongly suggest that you TELL us when you go on your little joy rides," Starscream commanded. "And it's LORD Starscream!"

"Not unless we find the big guy," Knock Out claimed in a nonchalant manner, obviously referring to Megatron. Their bantering was then cut short by Azula clearing her throat.

"Now that that's over with, why are you here?" Azula asked.

"We are here because we need a means of returning to our home planet Cybertron," Starscream answered, which got Ty-Lee's attention.

"Planet?" she asked, only to be picked up by Starscream and bringing her to his face.

"Yes, planet," Starscream responded. "And if you know what's best for you, then you'd refrain from interrupting me again, understood?" Ty-Lee merely gulped in fear and shook her head up and down.

"Good," Starscream responded before putting her down. "Anyway, since you are the most technologically advanced of these four nations, I propose an alliance."

"Oh?" Azula said curiously.

"Think about it Princess," Starscream responded. "Advanced technology, eons beyond what anyone could throw at you, as well as us fighting on your side. Why, you wouldn't even need the Dai-Lee for your little coup!"

"I like the way you think Starscream," Azula replied with a smirk. "But what's the catch?"

"All we merely ask is access to your nation's materials as well as at least 25% of your coal supply for energy means," Starscream answered. Azula then motioned for Mai and Ty-Lee to come to her so they could discuss this.

"I say we take it Azula," Mai said. "Like he said, with these guys, we won't even need the Dai-Lee."

"I don't know," Ty-Lee said, still scared. "These guys are pretty creepy, especially that one." She then motioned her head to Soundwave.

"Still, the advantage we'd gain is too much to ignore Ty-Lee," Azula responded before walking back to Starscream.

"We will accept your offer," Azula said to the seeker, which caused the seeker to form a wicked grin on his face.

"Excellent..." he said.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ironhide was still driving when he saw the box Toph was in being pulled away by an ostrich-horse ridden by Yu and Xin. He reacted quickly and drove in front of them. This caught both Yu and Xin by surprise.

"You again!?" Xin exclaimed. Toph meanwhile heard this and knew that Ironhide was here, but could get in trouble again, so she started to concentrate and try and 'see' the minerals inside the metal, and once she concentrated enough, she was successful. Seeing this, she smirked and took a deep breath before pushing on it.

Back with Ironhide and her captures, Ironhide transformed and readied himself for battle. Yu, terrified of the Autobot, cowerred in fear under the carriage while Xin actually tried to fight. He earthbended from the ground and shot a piece at him, but Irohnide reacted this time and blasted it with his blaster.

"C'mon metal, budge!" Toph exclaimed as she kept trying to bend the metal that surrounded her.

Irohnide dodged another projectile from Xin, but then he bended the ground bellow him and he fell to the ground.

Finally, with one punch, Toph was able to cause a massive dent in the metal.

"Whoo! Toph, you rule!" she complimented to herself before she ripped the metal open.

* * *

Back at Ba Sing Se, Bumbblebee, in his vehicle mode, was driving Katara and Momo to the palace. The two of them decided that this was a good time to get to know each other a little better.

"So what happened to your vocal processors Bee?" Katara asked her new friend.

"(I was captured by Megatron at Tyger Pax and interrogated brutally,)" Bumbblebee responded. "(I refused to speak, so he crushed my voice box.") Katara was shocked at Megatron's brutality.

"I-I'm so sorry Bee," she apologized.

"(Don't be Katara,)" he responded. "(My voice box wasn't worth Megatron gaining vital information about us.") She then smiled slightly, commending his bravery and selflessness. Then they closed into a tea shop.

"Could you stop here?" Katara asked the Autobot scout. Bumbblebee then stopped close to the doors before Katara turned to Momo.

"Whadya say Momo?" she asked the leamur-bat. "A cup of tea before we get back to the Earth king?" Momo's response was to chatter slightly. Katara, taking that as a yes, got out of Bee and walked inside.

"(I'll be right here,)" Bumbblebee said to his human friend. Katara then walked in where two waitresses bowed their heads to her.

"Table for two please," Katara told the two waitresses. She was about to keep walking, when she heard something that almost made her heart stop.

"Uncle, I need two jasmine, one one green, and one one leachey," said a boy around 16 with a scar on his face. Unknown to most, he was Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. Someone who has obsessed with capturing the Avatar to obtain his honor back after being banished from his home by his own father.

"I'm brewing as fast as I can!" replied his uncle, who was really General Iroh, also of the Fire Nation and uncle to Zuko. Despite them really NOT trying to hunt the Avatar and trying to live a normal life owning a tea shop, Katara didn't know this and rushed back to Bumbblebee.

"(Something wrong Katara?)" he asked, seeing panic in her eyes. Once she got in, she immediately pointed to the palace.

"We nee to get to the king Bee, FAST!" she said quickly as Bumbblebee zoomed straight to the palace.

* * *

Back at the palace, Katara and Bee, now in robot mode, rushed to the throne room. Unfortunately, the Earth King was not there, however the Kyoshi Warriors were. Thinking this was a good thing, they ran to them. Still in disguise, Azula's eyes widened slightly when Bumbblebee came in. Starscream had told her about these 'Autobots' and how they were mortal enemies to the Decepticons, so, she gave a signal to Rumble and Frenzy, who were hiding, to strike when ready. The two of them, nodded, and moved to the shadows.

"Thank goodness you're here Suki!" Katara exclaimed with relief. "Something terrible is going on! The Fire Nation has infiltrated the city! I just saw Prince Zuko and his uncle!" Azula's eyes widened slightly when she mentioned her brother, which quickly turned into a smirk when she calculated this into her plan.

"We have to tell the Earth King right away!" Katara said.

"Oh, don't worry," Azula said while she rose up. "I'll be sure to let him know." She then walked closer to the light and Katara and Momo saw her golden eyes, which caused Katara's eyes to widen and for Momo to fly away screaching in fear. Katara and Bumbblebee tried to follow him, only for Ty-Lee to jump in and block Katara's chi, causing her to fall down paralyzed. Bumbblebee tried to retaliate when Rumble and Frenzy tackled him to the ground, their arms now formed into pile drivers. Bumbblebee's optics widened when he saw who tackled him. Optimus' worst fear has came true. The Decepticons were on Earth.

"First we crack the shell-" Frenzy began.

"Then we collect the nuts inside!" Rumble finished before pounding Bee until he couldn't fight back. Azula then came in and lightning bended straight into his spark, trying to kill him, but she could only put him in temporary stasis before pulling back in pain.

"These things are going to be a lot harder to kill than I thought," she said to herself before walking to Katara, still on the ground and with Mai and Ty-Lee looking down at her.

"So, Zu-Zu's in the city too," Azula said. "I think it's time for a 'family reunion.'

* * *

Back with Ironhide, Xin was about to finish him off when he and Yu heard a banging sound. They quickly went to the box and saw that it was open, and Toph was gone.

"It's another one of her tricks!" Yu stupidly claimed.

"There's a giant hole in the box!" Xin exclaimed. "How is that a trick!?"

"It's not!" said something from behind them. They turned and saw Toph, ready to start kicking ass. "It's the real deal!" She then earthbended two stone walls and put them to where Xin and Yu were between them. She then tossed them into the box and metalbended it shut. Then she leaped onto the top of it.

"I am the greatest earthbender in the world!" she proclaimed. "Don't you two dunderheads ever forget it!" Ironhide then got up and went to his new friend.

"Hey metal mouth!" she said to her alien friend. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Ironhide answered. "Just a few dents but other than that, I'm fine." He then transformed into his van mode, "Think you can keep up!?"

"Oh, it's on!" Toph said, accepting his challenge before ehe leaped to the ground and started literally skating through the ground beside Ironhide who was driving to the city.

* * *

Back at Chameleon Bay, Sokka and Warpath were getting ready for battle when Hakoda came up to them.

"Ready to go knock some Fire Nation heads you two?" he asked.

"Oh yeah!" Warpath answered. "Bring it on!" Hakoda simply smiled at his enthusiasm. he then turned to Sokka for an answer.

"You don't know how much this means to me Dad," he said to his father. "I'll make you proud, and I'll finally prove to you what a great warrior I am."

"Sokka," Hakoda said while reaching his hand to his son's shoulder. "You don't have to prove anything to me. I'm already proud of you, and I've always known you're a great warrior." Those encouraging words made Sokka smile a bit and tears to start forming.

"Really?" he asked.

"Why do you think I trusted you to look after our tribe when I left?" Hakoda asked. Sokka then nodded once and started to get on his father's ship along with Warpath when they heard Appa come down to the ground. The three of them turned to see Aang with a concerned look. While with the guru, he sensed that Katara and Bumbblebee were in danger and flew to get his friends back and to fly back to Ba Sing Se dispite Pathik's advice.

"This can't be good news," was all Sokka had to say before getting on Appa.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	5. The Crossroads of Destiny part 1

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 5: The Crossroads of Destiny Part 1

* * *

Aang and Sokka were flying on Appa with Warpath beside them, heading back to Ba Sing Se while Aang briefs Sokka and Warpath on what is happening.

"So, what kind of trouble are Katara and Bumblebee in?" Sokka asked.

"I don't know," Aang responded. "I-in my vision I just knew they needed help."

"Ah, Bee's been outta tougher situations that this," Warpath said, trying to reassure them. " I'm sure he'll be fine, and he'll make sure Katara's fine too."

"I'm not sure Warpath," Aang responded to the Autobot rookie. "They seemed like they needed help in my vision." Then, something catches the three of them at the cracks of their eyes. Toph skating through the ground and heading for the city as well with Ironhide driving beside her in her vehicle mode. Warpath then sweeps down beside them.

"Hey! Need a lift!?" Warpath asked loudly which caused Toph to loose control and wipe out, taking Ironhide with her. Aang and Sokka cringed a bit while Ironhide transformed and helped Toph back up while grumbling to himself.

"Why did Optimus have to bring that kid with us to Kaon!?" he asked himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, underneath the palace, Starscream was giving a speech to the other Decepticons with Azula, Mai, and Ty-Lee there to watch and listen.

"My fellow Decepticons, our new partner, Princess Azula, has given us the task of forming a coup to overthrow this 'Earth King,'" Starscream explained to his troops. "We must be swift and decisive. The Earth King and his five generals must be taken out simultaneously, so there must be no distractions, right Knock Out?" Knock Out just gulped as Starscream mentioned him. "You wouldn't want that paint job of yours to be ruined, would you?"

"N-no Starscream!" Knock Out quickly responded.

"LORD Starscream!" he corrected. "And one final warning to each of you. If there is even the slightest hint of hesitation, disloyalty, or weaknesses, I WILL snap it out...understood?"

"Yes Lord Starscream," four out of the five Decepticons, with the exception of Soundwave, responded, with Ravage just snarling in response. Starscream simply smirked to himself deviously at his troops loyalty to HIM and not Megatron.

"Dismissed," he said, and with that, the Cons transformed and flew off to get to work. Azula looked at them all while drinking tea that Ty-Lee brewed, impressed at Starscream's leadership.

"I must admit, you have quite the leadership skills Starscream," Azula commended.

"Yeah," Ty-Lee responded, back to her usual positive mood. "It was poetic, but also scary in a good way!"

"Yeah, I thought you were gonna make the red one have an oil leak," Mai remarked, obviously referring to Knock Out, trying not to chuckle slightly.

"There's still a few loose ends though, we still have the Autobots to handle, as well as your enemies Princess," Starscream responded.

"Yes," Azula replied. "Such as the Avatar, and my brother and uncle..."

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS: PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Outside the palace, Iroh and Zuko were being dropped off, Iroh with a pot full of tea, after receiving an invitation to serve the Earth King some of Iroh's tea.

"Many times I imagined myself here at the threshold of the palace, but I always thought I would be here as a conqueror," Iroh stated. "Instead, we are the Earth King's personal guests, here to serve him tea. Destiny is a funny thing."

"Yeah," Zuko responded. "It sure is Uncle."

* * *

Back with Aang, Sokka, Toph, Warpath and Ironhide, Toph wanted to know what went on with Aang and Pathik.

"So how'd it go with the guru?" Toph asked. "Did you master the Avatar State?"

"Uh..." Aang responds as he remember's Pathik's last words before he left.

* * *

_"If you leave now, you won't be able to go into the Avatar State at all!" Pathik warned Aang, but Aang ignored his warning_ _and flew away from the Eastern Air Temple._

* * *

"Aang, are you okay?" Sokka asked, which got Aang to come out of his flashback.

"I'm great!" he answered, obviously lying. "It went great with the guru! I completely mastered the Avatar State!" Warpath then butted in, still flying beside Appa.

"Well then, it should be, WOOSH! smooth sailing from here!" he said. Aang just chuckled nervously in response.

* * *

In a private quarters, Iroh poured four cups of tea on a table while sitting beside his nephew, waiting for the king.

"What's taking so long?" Zuko asked, slightly impatiently.

"Maybe the Earth King overslept?" Iroh suggested before hearing footsteps, but it wasn't the Earth King, it was Azula.

"It's 'tea time,' she remarked to her brother and uncle.

"Azula!" Zuko exclaimed after immediately standing up, but then, four giant mechanical beings along with two human sized ones and a mechanical jaguar crashed through the roof, surrounding them before they could retaliate. Zuko and Iroh's eyes widened with absolute shock ast to what was standing before them.

"Have you met the Decepticons?" Azula asked. "They're an alien race, but they have a killer instinct and personality that's so firebender. I just love it." Iroh, who soon got out of his state of shock, instincivetly grabs a cup of tea. Skywarp questions this.

"Should we shoot him?" he asked Thundercracker.

"Nah, 'Zula told me this is some human custom," Thundercracker responded.

"Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname 'The Dragon of the West?'" Iroh asks his niece.

"I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote Uncle," Azula answered.

"It's more of a demonstration really," Iroh replied. He then drank his tea and Zuko, out of his state of shock, smirked, knowing what Iroh intended to do. Zuko then immediately got behind his uncle as Iroh started to breath fire out of his mouth and move 360 in order to distract the Cons as he blasted the wall down with his fire breath for him and Zuko to make his escape. The Cons ran after them, Thundercracker and Skywarp firing their weapons at them, but to no avail. Iroh then lightning bended a hole in the wall and leaped through it, making his escape. He turned around once he was in the ground, waiting for Zuko to jump down and join him.

"Come on! You'll be fine!" he shouted to his nephew, but Zuko just stood there and looked down at his uncle.

"No!" Zuko replied. "I'm tired of running! It's time I faced Azula!" With that, he boldly walked away from his uncle, who slapped his forehead, not believing that Zuko was actually doing just that, and ran off, not knowing that Laserbeak was close behind, following him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zuko got himself ready for battle while Azula just stood there with the Decepticons behind her.

"You're so dramatic," Azula remarked sarcastically. "What? Are you going to challenge me to an Agni Ki?"

"Yes!" Zuko proclaimed. "I challenge you!"

"No thanks," Azula responded before Zuko charged himself at her with rage.

"Sick 'im Ravage!" Knock Out commanded. Ravage responded by tackling Zuko to the ground while Thundercracker came forward and shot Zuko with a stun blast, knocking him out. Frenzy and Rumble started to drag him out when Soundwave detected something and displayed something on the monitor on his face.

"What is Soundwave doing?" Azula asked. Knock Out then stepped forward to answer her question.

"He's detected something," he said. "And by the looks of it, it's a Decepticon life signiture, but no Decepticon could have this much energy except..." Knock Out then gasped, knowing who it was Soundwave detected.

"We need to get this information to Starscream!" Knock Out declared.

* * *

Aang and his friends meanwhile arrived at the Earth King throne to discuss why they came back so early to him.

"Katara and Bumblebee are fine," he said. "You have nothing to worry about."

"You mean I left a fight for nothing!?" Warpath exclaimed.

"Can it rookie!" Ironhide responded.

"But, in my vision, I felt so sure they were in trouble," Aang responded to the Earth King's statement.

"Well, they and Optimus met with the council of generals to plan the invasion, and since then, they've been off with your friends the Kyoshi Warriors," the Earth King claimed.

"See Aang, they're with Suki," Sokka said. They're probably back in our appartment right now talking about makeup or something...poor Bee."

"I second that," Warpath responded.

"Okay, maybe you're right, but Optimus would know for sure," Aang responded. "We should probably see him too."

* * *

Inside the crystal catacombs of the old Ba Sing Se, Katara desperately tried to heal Bumblebee to try and get him out of stasis, but to no avail.

"C'mon Bee!" she said. "You're the only one who can get us out of here and call for help!" Just then, the hatch came open, and Rumble dropped Zuko to the ground, who only just now awakened

"Hey! You got company!" Rumble declared before closing the hatch. Zuko looked up and saw a sight for sore eyes: Katara.

"Zuko!" she exclaimed before glaring at the former prince. He got up to see Katara and the motionless body of Bumblebee, instinctively getting his firebending ready to fight what he thought was another Decepticon. Katara then got in front of Bee and waterbended from her pouch of water to form a defensive shield around Bumbblebee.

* * *

Back at the Cons' underground hideout, Knock Out and Soundwave walked to Starscream who was sitting on a stone throne.

"Starscre-" Knock Out started before being interrupted by Starscream.

"It, is, LOOOORD!" he shouted, but this time, Knock Out didn't cower in fear, rather he kept smirking and still had his nonchalant voice.

"Not anymore," he replied as Soundwave came forward with the energy signiture. Starscream got up and observed it more carefully before his optics widened widely.

"If what you believe is true, then..." Starscream couldn't finish his scentence before Knock Out butted in.

"Megatron lives..." he finished for him.

* * *

To be continued...


	6. The Crossroads of Destiny part 2

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

* * *

Chapter 6: The Crossroads of Destiny Part 2

* * *

Starscream couldn't believe what he was seeing. There was a chance that Megatron was alive and on this planet. Not wanting to give up his position as leader of the Decepticons though, he tried to debunk this rumor.

"H-how do you know that Soundwave's systems arn't malfunctioning Knock Out?" Starscream nervously asked.

"Soundwave never makes a mistake Starscream," Knock Out replied.

"B-but what a-" Starscream couldn't finish when Soundwave just pointed to the entrance of the catacombs of the underground remains of the old Ba Sing Se, demanding that his master be excavated. Not wanting to get in Soundwave's way, Starscream gave up.

"Fine! Someone get Rumble!" he commanded.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Gaang's apartment, Appa lands Aang, Toph and Sokka beside the building while Warpath landed as well and Ironhide drove up to the building and transformed. The five of them went inside to see Momo fly up to Aang's shoulder and Optimus standing there, waiting for them.

"Optimus," Ironhide said. "We haven't been able to contact Bumblebee or Katara for four hours. You know where they went?"

"I'm afraid not old friend," Optimus responded dissapointingly. "I tried contacting you, but it seems the trip here damaged my comlink. I have not been able to fix it since." Aang's eyes widened in fear at his statement.

"Katara and Bee ARE in trouble! I knew it!" he said.

"Oh no..." Sokka said, worried for his sister. Toph then senses something.

"Wait," she said. "Someone's at the door." Sure enough, someone started knocking on the door.

"Actually I know who it is. It's an old friend of mine." she claimed as she walked to the door and opened it. To Aang and Sokka's shock, it was Iroh.

"Glad to see you're okay," Toph said to the former general. Iroh however was shocked to find three giant mechanical beings there. Remembering his experience with Azula and the Decepticons, he conjured fire in his hands, ready for a fight. Optimus, Irohnide and Warpath responded by drawing their weapons. Suddenly, Toph got in front of Iroh.

"Wait!" she exclaimed. "They're with us! They're friendly!" Seeing that she was telling the truth, Iroh stopped firebending and lowered his arms.

"Autobots, stand down," Optimus ordered as he put his blaster away. Irohinde and Warpath did the same. Sokka and Aang on the other hand were in a state of shock and demanded answers.

"I need your help," Iroh claimed.

"You guys know each other!?" Aang asked in a state of disbelief.

"I met him in the woods once and knocked him down," Toph answered. "Then he gave me tea and some very good advice."

"May I come in?" Iroh kindly asked while bowing his head. Toph responded by nodding once. Once the general was inside, he dropped the bombshell on Aang and his friends.

"Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se," he said.

"She must have Katara and Bumblebee!" Aang responded.

"She has captured my nephew as well," Iroh replied.

"Then we'll work together to fight Azula, and save Katara, Bumblebee and Zuko," Aang said, to which Sokka couldn't believe he just heard.

"Whoa there, you lost me at 'Zuko,'" Sokka said to his friend.

"I know how you must feel about my nephew, but believe me when I tell you there is good inside him," Iroh said truthfuly to Sokka. However, he still wasn't buying it.

"'Good inside him' isn't enough," Sokka responded. "Why don't you come back outside him when it's OUTSIDE HIM too, okay?"

"Sokka," Optimus said as he stepped forward. "A wise Autobot named Alpha Trion taught me that freedom is the right of all sentiant beeings. Everyone deserves a chance at redemption, even the most synical and evil lifeforms." Sokka then thought about this for a minute. Optimus did have a point, but he still couldn't trust Zuko after all he did. Then Aang went up to his friend.

"Katara is in trouble, Bumblebee is in trouble, all of Ba Sing Se is in trouble," he said. "Working together is our best chance." Thinking about the danger his sister was in helped him reach a conclusion.

"You're right," he declared. They were about to set off when Iroh spoke again.

"That wasn't the worst part though," he said, which caused everyone to stop dead in their tracks. The firebender then turned to the three Autobots. "Some of your kind are working for Azula."

"That's impossible," Ironhide responded. "We Autobots stand for peace, not war!"

"Unless..." Optimus said as he thought about what Iroh said, then his optics widened when he realized the horrible truth. "The Decepticons!" Hearing that term made Aang, Toph and Sokka's eyes widen.

"Those freaks followed you here!?" Toph asked.

"You could say that Toph," Optimus responded. "We were sent from Cybertron to this world via a space bridge."

"What's a space bridge?" Sokka asked.

"It defies every law of physics on this planet, capable of sending anything from one location to another," Optimus answered. "I lead an assault to destroy a space bridge the decepticons built when it malfunctioned, and transported us to Earth." Rather than acting fearful, the three children and Iroh stepped forward.

"If the Fire Nation is involved in your war, then it's our war too," Aang claimed.

"And we're gonna fight it," Sokka added, when he noticed something on the window of the apartment. "Hey guys, how long was that weird looking bird over there staring at us for?" Irohnide's optics widened when Sokka said 'weird looking bird' and shot it almost instantly. The bird fell over and, sure enough, his instincts were right.

"That's not a bird, it's Laserbeak!" Irohnide corrected as he and the others ran to him. Laserbeak wasn't destroyed, but was in temporary stasis.

"That ugly sucker is a drone who's commanded by the Cons' inteligence officer, Soundwave," Warpath said.

"Which means the Decepticons and the Fire Nation may know where we are," Optimus added. "We need to leave now!"

"Hold on Optimus," Ironhide said. "Not before we get some information from him." Ironhide then forced Laserbeak to show some of his recordings, revealing where Azula and Starscream were and their plans to organize a coup, as well as where Katara and Bumblebee were, and if they were there, Zuko had to be there as well. Once he was done, Ironhide tossed the offline Laserbeak out the window and Warpath shot a fully charged blast from the tank barrel in his chest, destroying Laserbeak instantly.

"It looks like they're inside underground ruins of the old Ba Sing Se," Sokka said. "We need to get going before they find us here."

"Transform, and roll out!" Optimus commanded the other Autobots. Once the Autobots were in their vehicle modes, they set off with the Gaang and Iroh close behind.

* * *

Back at the crystal catacombs, Katara and Zuko were duking it out. Zuko seeking to destroy the now in stasis Bumblebee while Katara seeks to defend him at all costs.

"Let me guess, you're hunting THEM now!?" Katara asked while sending ice picks Zuko's way to which Zuko easily melts.

"Why shouldn't I after they nearly killed my uncle and I!?" Zuko replied as he sent a fire blast Katara's way. Fortunately, Katara easily dodges that and uses a water whip to toss Zuko into a wall.

"I take it that's another one of your lies to try and get Aang into your little Fire Nation clutches," Katara said as she walked to Zuko. The former prince tried to get up, but Katara easily sent a water whip to him and knocked him back down.

"You're a terrible person, you know that!?" Katara asked. "Always following us, hunting the Avatar, trying to capture the world's last hope of peace!?" Zuko didn't try getting up this time, but still didn't respond to Katara's question.

"But what do you care!?" Katara asked while turning around. "You're the Fire Lord's son... spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood..." This time Zuko had enough and got back up.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Zuko replied. Now Katara was upset, turning to him with tears forming in her eyes.

"I don't!?" Katara responded. "How dare you!? You have no idea what this war has put us through! Me personally!...The Fire Nation took my mother away from me..." Katara couldn't take it anymore as she turned around, knelt down and started to cry. Feeling somewhat bad for her, knowing what she had been through, Zuko walked up to her.

"I'm sorry..." he said. "That's something we have in common..." Katara then immediately stopped crying and looked back at Zuko, not believing what she had heard as Bumblebee emerged from stasis and got back up. Zuko instinctively got his firebending ready when Katara intervened.

"There's a lot more that you don't understand..." she said.

* * *

Outside the palace, the Gaang, Iroh and the Autobots went up to a specified location they obtained from Laserbeak. Toph knelt down and tried to sense a tunnel that lead to crystal catacombs, and sure enough, she could sense them.

"Well whadya know," she said. "There IS an anciant city down there, but it's deep." She then earthbended an opening so that they could get there.

"I reccomend splitting up," Optimus suggested. "Aang, you, General Iroh and I will go to the underground ruins to rescue Katara, Bumblebee and Zuko. Warpath and Ironhide, the two of you will go and alert the Earth King of Azula's coup and of the Decepticons."

* * *

While traveling through the underground tunnel with Aang and Prime, Iroh took the time to know about Optimus, the Autobots and where they came from.

"So your world is at civil war as well?" Iroh said to the Autobot leader.

"Unfortunately..." Optimus replied with his head down.

"May I ask what it is that caused it?" Iroh asked.

"It all connects to one fact, the Decepticons only seek one goal, total universal domination," Optimus answered. Iroh couldn't believe that there were those as monstrous as the Fire Nation out there, if not even more monstrous.

"A story that I have heard one too many times," Iroh sadly said. Then Aang earthbended a wall open so they could travel further. Afterward, Aang decided to talk to Iroh.

"So, Toph says you give pretty good advice, and great tea," he said to the elder firebender.

"The key to both is propper aging," Iroh replied. "What's on your mind?" The three then stop for a second for Aang to earthbend another wall to deepen the tunnel before they continued further.

"Well," Aang started. "I met with this guru who was suppose to help me master the Avatar State, and control this great power, but to do it, I had to let go of someone I love, and just couldn't."

"Perfection and power are not everything for everyone Aang," Optimus said. "Those who believe otherwise are no different from the mind of a Decepticon."

"I agree with Optimus," Iroh added. "I think you were wise to choose happiness and love." Aang then earthbended another wall before responding.

"What happens if I can't save everyone and beat Azula and the Decepticons?" he asked. "Without the Avatar State, what if I'm not powerful enough?"

"Only Destiny has the answer to that question Aang," Optimus responded. "But I believe that your strength will prevail, and your darkest hour will be lightened." Aang smiled slightly at Prime's response before earthbending one more wall to see a green light shining through, and once the light dimmed, the beautiful ruins of the old city shined through.

* * *

Elsewhere in the ruins, Starscream and Rumble were busy unearthing the coordinates that Soundwave had provided to which Megatron may be hidden inside. Rumble kept using his pile drivers to unearth the wall, and occasionally toss a rock out of the way, one of which almost hit Starscream. As usual, he was infuriated at Rumble's action.

"Watch where you throw those you clumsy clunker!" Starscream shouted. Rumble's response: a rock that hit him square in his chassis that sent him flying to the wall behind him.

"Who ya callin' 'clumsy' gasket-breath!?" Rumble retaliated. Starscream then got up and ran straight up to the small blue Decepticon and was about to assault him, when a purple blast from the wall that Rumble was unearthing blasted the two of them backwards. A figure in the shadows moved forward and when Rumble and Starscream saw who it was, they immediately kneeled out of fear.

* * *

Over at the steps of the palace, Warpath, Sokka, Ironhide and Toph were walking to the throne room to alert the Earth King. Momo was flying beside them. Then the four of them notice someone outside the palace's door.

"There's General How," Sokka said as he motioned for everyone to stop and move in front of a pillar, sensing danger. Sure enough, Thundercracker and Skywarp came down and cornered the general. How was shocked to say the least.

"What's going on here!?" he asked when Thundercracker stepped forward.

"You've been relieved of your duty General," Thundercracker answered as he fired a stun blast to knock him into unconsciousness. The two seekers then carried him away. Back with Sokka, Toph and the Autobots, they were shocked to realize that they were too late.

"The coup is happening now!" Sokka said.

"Then let's crack some Con heads and rescue him!" Ironhide replied when Sokka stood in the way.

"It's too risky!" Sokka said. "We've gotta warn the Earth King!"

* * *

In other sections of the city, the other four generals suffered the same fate. Knock Out took one out with his electro-staff, Frenzy took another by creating a fissure with his pile-drivers, and Ravage assaulted the final two. All that was left now was for Azula to capture the Earth King.

* * *

Inside the palace, Sokka, Toph and the two Autobots ran inside the throne room, relieved to see the Earth King unharmed. They also saw two of the three 'Kyoshi Warriors' there as well.

"Thank goodness we're in time!" Sokka exclaimed, which of course confused the Earth King.

"In time for what?" the Earth King asked.

"Yeah, what are you in time for..." Ty-Lee started before cartwheeling over to Sokka. "...cuuutie?" She then got in his personal space, which of course made Sokka a bit nervous.

"Uh...I'm kinda involved with Suki..." Sokka said. Behind him, Toph started to sense something was off about these 'Kyoshi Warriors.'

"Who?" Ty-Lee asked before Toph earthbended the ground underneeth her, sending her flying, however she landed safely on top of a statue.

"They're not the real Kyoshi Warriors!" Toph declared, which shocked the Earth King and caused him to gasp in disbelief. Then, a red sports car drove up behind them and transformed into Knock Out, with his electro-staff ready while walking toward the two kids and the Autobots.

"Sorry to rain on your parade." he said nonchalantly with a wicked smirk on his face. He then lunged at the group, but Toph earthbended a projectile at him and knocked him backwards slightly. Mai then tossed her knives at Toph to which Toph immediately blocked with a wall in front of her, then launched the wall at Mai, to which Mai easily dodged. Ironhide and Warpath were busy fighting Knock Out in the meantime when one of Mai's knives scratched Knock Out slightly, to which he wasn't thrilled about.

"Hey! Watch the fini-" he couldn't finish before Ironhide socked him straight in the face. Sokka was watching the chaos ensue when Ty-Lee came from behind, giggling which caused Sokka to flinch back. Ty-Lee tried her chi-blocking jabs at him, but Sokka kept dodging them. The sight seemed like they were dancing somewhat.

"Mmmm, looks like we're dancing together," Ty-Lee said. Warpath, seeing his friend in danger, then turned into a tank and rolled to the situation.

"Hang in there Sokka! Here comes the calvary!" Warpath declared as he fired a non lethal blast at Ty-Lee and sent her flying backwards.

"Da-dada-dada-dada-dada-dada-dada!" Warpath sang as he kept rolling to her. Then everyone stopped dead in their tracks when they heard something.

"This fight, is over," said Azula, who was holding the Earth King hostage with one of her hands conjuring a small flame, threatening to kill him. Everyone then stopped fighting, Warpath turned back into a robot, and Toph, Sokka and the Autobots raised their hands in surrender. Ty-Lee then came up to the two kids and chi blocked them, paralyzing them, while Knock Out put the two bots into a temporary stasis with his staff. Momo tried to escape again, but Knock Out shocked him as well, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Get them all out of my sight," Azula commanded as she pushed the king to the ground. As the two kids and the two bots, along with Momo, Bosco, and the Earth King were dragged out of the throne, Starscream entered the room, looking more nervous and fearful than usual.

"What is it Starscream?" Azula asked.

"Uh, t-there is someone who wishes to see you Princess," Starscream responded.

"Well then, let him in," Azula commanded. Starscream then moved out of the way as someone slowly walked to the throne room, the ground rumbling with every step. From the shadows came a tall, grey Decepticon with a cannon attached to his right arm, whose presence envoked power and fear. Ty-Lee immediately hid behind the throne Azula was now sitting on, even Mai and Azula felt a chill run down their spines.

"Princess Azula," Starscream said. "Meet...Lord Megatron..."

* * *

To be continued...


	7. The Crossroads of Destiny part 3

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 7: The Crossroads of Destiny Part 3

* * *

Azula and her friends looked up at the titan that stood before them, the Decepticon leader, Megatron. They looked up in awe at the tyrant, but Megatron was less enthused at the creatures that Starscream had made an alliance with.

"Starscream...a word with you," he said to the cowering seeker as he walked over to the hallway.

"Um, w-with pleasure my liege," Starscream nervously replied as he followed his master. Once they were gone, Ty-Lee peeked out from the throne she was hiding behind.

"Is he gone?" she asked out of fear.

* * *

Meanwhile, Megatron was busy pummeling Starscream to the ground and beating his head against the wall.

"Not only did your actions send us to this rock, but you have allied yourself with these miserable carbon based lifeforms!?" Megatron furiously shouted at his second in command. He was about to fire his fusion cannon when Starscream intervened.

"O-only for the tactical advantages my master!" he answered. "There is a lot about this world that I have found out during your absence!"

"Oh?" Megatron responded. "And what exactly was it that you found out?"

"You see my master, much like Cybertron, this world is at war," Starscream began. "The Fire Nation, which is the nation we have allied ourselves with, is the most technologically advanced faction as well as the winning side. When caught in a war, you always join the winning side master!"

"Hmmm, you do make a valid point Starscream," Megatron replied to Starscream's defense. "But what use could this nation provide us with?"

"Energy master, as well as materials, to possibly get us back to Cybertron," Starscream answered. "All they ask is for us to help them win their war." Megatron thought this over. It would be difficult allying himself with flesh creatures, however, this could be his only chance to get back to Cybertron and conquer what is rightfully his. After a few minutes, he reached a conclusion.

"Very well the Starscream, this little alliance will continue," he declared before walking back to the throne room to have a chat with this 'Princess Azula.' Starscream meanwhile stayed where he was and sighed in relief.

* * *

Once Megatron walked back to the throne room, Ty-Lee immediately went back to hiding and Azula tried her best not to show the slight fear she was feeling, wondering what Megatron's intentions were.

"After much deliberation, I have decided that the alliance between the Decepticons and the Fire Nation will continue," Megatron stated, which caused Azula to smirk.

"Excellent," Azula said to the tyrannous warlord.

* * *

Back at the catacombs, Katara told Zuko everything about the Autobots and Decepticons. The High Council, Orion Pax, the war, everything. Zuko to say the least was shocked.

"Another world in civil war where one side seeks total domination?" he asked, still in disbelief.

"Yes, because someone believed that a world where everything was one nation was a stronger outcome," Katara replied. "Sound familiar?" Zuko then turned away and remembered the tale of his great grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, who was the one who begun this war by destroying the Air Temples. Katara saw him look away and went up to him.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you before," she said.

"It doesn't matter..." Zuko responded.

"It's just that...for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face," Katara admited, which slightly offended Zuko due to the scar where his left eye is.

"My face..." he said while placing a hand on his scar. "I see..."

"No, no, that's-that's not what I ment," Katara said, knowing what he was talking about.

"It's okay," Zuko responded. "I use to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever, but lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark..."

"Maybe you could be free of it," Katara said, remembering something from long ago she had acquired, and wanting to help Zuko.

"What?" Zuko asked, confused at her statement.

"I have healing abilities," Katara answered.

"It's a scar, it can't be healed," Zuko corrected before Katara got out a veil that contained a small amount of water and started to walk to Zuko.

"This is water from the Spirit Oasis from the North Pole," Katara explained. "It has special proporties, so I've been saving it for something important. I don't know if it would work, but..." She then placed a hand on his scar, ready to try and see if her theory would work, but then the wall crumbled, and from the other side was Aang, Optimus and Iroh.

"Aang!" Katara exclaimed in relief as she ran up to him and hugged him while Iroh ran up to hug his nephew.

"(Optimus!)" Bumblebee beeped when he ran up there as well.

"Good to see you as well Bumblebee," Optimus responded.

"Aang, I knew you'd come," Katara said to Aang. Zuko however, wasn't as thrilled with this rescue.

"Uncle, I don't understand!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing with the Avatar!?"

"Saving YOU, that's what," Aang retaliated. Zuko tried to walk up to him when Iroh stopped him.

"Zuko, it's time we talked," Iroh said to his nephew before turning to the other four. "Go help your other friends. We'll catch up with you." Aang and Optimus bowed to the general before the four of them ran through the hole. Katara managed to look back at the exiled prince with sympathy before leaving.

"Why Uncle?" Zuko asked.

"You are not the man you use to be Zuko," Iroh began. "You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been, and now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good." Zuko then shuts his eyes and absorbs his uncle's words, but before his wisdom could fully sink in, Iroh was blasted backwards by a sudden purple laser blast. Zuko looked behind him to see Azula and Megatron standing right there with Knock Out and Soundwave beside them.

"Such foolish words that only Optimus Prime could rival," Megatron said. Zuko's eyes widened, seeing yet another metal monster on Azula's side.

"What did you do to my uncle you monster!?" Zuko demanded, which obviously angered the Decepticon leader.

"You DARE to interupt me flesh creature!?" Megatron shouted and was ready to annihilate him when Azula motioned for him to stop.

"There's no need to Megatron, I will handle this," Azula stated as she walked up to her brother.

"I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle, but Zuko, PRINCE Zuko, you're a lot of things, but your not a traitor, are you?" she asked her brother. "It's not too late for you Zuko. You can still redeem yourself." Then, Iroh spoke up.

"The kind of redemption she offers is not for you!" he said.

"Silence flesh creature!" Megatron commanded before Azula continued.

"I need you Zuko," she said. "I've drempt of this day for too long. This glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win, is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have Father's love. You will have everything you want."

"Zuko," Iroh said to his nephew. "I am begging you, look into your heart and see what it is you trulely want." Zuko looked back at his uncle, unsure of who to listen to. He then shuts his eyes and hangs his head, thinking. Does he want to choose the path of good, or does he want his honor back.

"You are free to choose," Azula said before walking to the hole that Aang had created.

"Soundwave, detain the prisoner," Megatron commanded. "Knock Out, follow me." With that, Megatron and Knock Out followed Azula to the hole and Soundwave took Iroh to be locked up, leaving Zuko alone in his thoughts, his mind in turmoil over this critical moment that could change everything.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang, Katara, Optimus and Bumblebee were running through the catacombs to try and find a path to where their friends were while Bumblebee briefs Optimus on what was going on.

"(Based on what I've seen, Rumble and Frenzy attacked me, and with them, Soundwave is likely with them as well, but that's all I know we're up against besides Starscream,)" Bumblebee reported to Optimus. Then, suddenly, a lightning bolt and a purple fusion cannon blast stopped them dead in their tracks. They turned and were in shock to see who was with Knock Out and Azula.

"Still as predictable as ever Optimus," Megatron taunted to his rival.

"Megatron," Optimus growled slightly as he and Bumblebee got their weapons ready as did Knock Out. Megatron and Knock Out then charged to the two Autobots while Aang and Katara readied themselves to fight Azula. Katara started by bending a large portion of water in a channel and charges at Azula, crashing the water onto her, but Azula reacts by shielding herself with a wall of blue fire that instantly evaporated the water before it hit her. The large portion of steam it produced hid Azula from Aang and Katara's eyes as they look left and right, preparing for a sneek attack from the Fire Nation princess.

Meanwhile, Optimus was clashing his sword with Megatron's while Bumblebee tried to get a clear shot at Knock Out with his wrist blasters. Suddenly, Knock Out fired from his electro-staff, sending Bumblebee flying to the wall, which distracted Optimus.

"Bumblebee!" Optimus exclaimed before Megatron slashed his chest hard, causing him to fly into the wall as well.

Back with Aang and Katara, Azula suddenly emerged from the steam from one of the large crystals above, firing two fire blasts at the two of them, but Aang and Katara easily shield themselves with more water from the channel. Azula then lands on a large stone pillar, but Aang was quick to act and started to send a shock wave to it. Azula looked down and gasped as the pillar started to collapse and drops down between Katara and Aang, but not before Optimus and Bumblebee got up and went to them, Bumblebee standing behind Katara and Optimus behind Aang with their weapons drawn. Megatron and Knock Out ran beside Azula with their weapons drawn and Azula pointing her fingers at Katara and Azng, ready to incinerate them if they make a move, but looking back and forth at them nervously.

But suddenly, a blast of red fire lands between the two groups. They shield themselves from it and turned to see Zuko walking towards them, ready to make another move. He looks between Azula, who gazes at him harshly, and at Aang before making a decision on who to attack. Unfortunately, it's Aang. The airbender gasps and reacts in time before Zuko sent another blast by shielding himself with a spiral of wind. Azula and the Cons took advantage of this moment by attacking their opponents while Zuko fiercely sends blast on top of blast towards Aang. The chaos had continued.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sokka, Toph, Momo and the Earth King were inside a jail cell. Sokka was looking back and forth through the small barred window of the cell trying to see if the cost is clear.

"See any Cons?" Toph asked.

"Nope," Sokka answered. "All clear." Toph then cracked her knuckles and walked to the door before metalbending in off the hinges.

"Let's go!" Sokka said as they all immediately left the cell.

"I'm not leaving without Bosco!" the Earth King claimed while Sokka grabbed his arm and dragged him out.

* * *

While that was going on, Warpath and Ironhide were being held at blasterpoint by Skywarp and Thundercracker when they saw Toph, Sokka, the Earth King and Momo hidding behind the pillars. Toph motioned for them to take out the two seekers. Then, the two of them immediately socked them in the face without the two Cons given a chance to fire their weapons and were knocked into temporary stasis as the two Autobots got their weapons that they confiscated and joined the humans on their rush to get back to the throne room to get Bosco.

* * *

Back at the catacombs, it was pure pandemonium. Zuko kept barraging Aang with fire blasts to which Aang quickly dodged them, then Aang shifts his chest and sends an air blast in the shape of his body. Zuko gasps as the gust hits him, launching him several feet backwards and knocking him to the ground. Aang then leaps up to Zuko, but he easily rolls out of the way and counters by blasting fire at Aang's legs. Aang jumps high to dodge it and lands in a pillar of earth. Zuko then goes back to barraging Aang with fire blasts, but Aang easily jumps up to a crystal to dodge them. However, Zuko then lowers his stance to gain as much energy as possible to send a large fire blast at Aang which hits him despite Aang earthbending the crystals upward to shield himself and sends him flying backwards. Zuko then created two fire-whips and swings them both at Aang who jumps to higher ground to avoid them. He uses the same tactic to dodge another swing of Zuko's whips and jumps back to the pillar.

Optimus and Megatron in the meantime were engaged in a sword duel to which Megatron was easily gaining the upper hand.

"I will not allow you to bring our war to this planet Megatron!" Optimus declared, which earned him a punch to the face that knocked him down to the ground as Megatron walked to him.

"You don't have a choice Prime," he replied. "Zeta Prime could not stop me, and neither will you..." Optimus then surprised Megatron by getting his blasters ready and fired at the tyrant. Megatron immediately went for cover and started to fire back.

Meanwhile, Azula and Katara were busy duking it out as well. They start to run to each other when Katara starts bending a small puddle of water and thrusts it at Azula, but she barely dodges it as only a few hairs from Azula's bangs were cut.

Back with Zuko and Aang, Zuko starts going balistic with his fire-whips as he tries to hit Aang, who easily dodges them. Aang pushed off a stalactite with his legs and kicks another one, causing its tip to fall. He grabbed onto the top section, swings down under it, and kicked off, launching himself down into the stalactite, plunging it down and causing it to crash into the ground. The shock wave knocks Zuko back and his body hits a crystal.

Katara in the meantime started to cover her entire body except her head with water as Azula got up from a water blast Katara launched at her earlier. Azula tries blasting fire at her, but Katara reacted too fast for her and not only did she extinguish the fire with a long tentacle of water from her arm, she covered Azula's arm with it. Azula tries to counter with a fire kick, but Katara extinguishes that and covers Azula's leg with another tentacle and starts to lift her up when Knock Out comes in and slices the tentacles with his staff, freeing Azula, and then Knock Out sends a surge of electricity from his staff to a tentacle and starts to shock Katara. She then falls to her knees in serious pain and the water around her falls after ten seconds.

"Shock and drop," Knock Out remarked with a smirk. Bumblebee, seeing this, starts charging to Knock Out in a fit of rage. The Decepticon medic had no time to react before Bumblebee tackled him, then picked him up and smashed him into a crystal, then starts to run and drag Knock Out across the crystals as Knock Out screams in terror and pain. Once he ran out of crystals, Bumblebee tossed Knock Out aside. The medic got up and, much to his horror, saw the extensive damage to his paint job via a crystal.

"No...NOOOOOOOO!" Knock Out yelled before getting up and turning to Bumblebee. "You scratch my paint, I scratch yo-GAH!" Knock Out was interupted by Optimus tossing Megatron straight at him, causing the two of them to fly into a wall. Megatron immediately tossed Knock Out aside when he realized he was on top of him.

"GET OFF OF ME KNOCK OUT!" Megatron commanded as he extended his wrist sword and lept up towards Optimus only to be greeted by an uppercut from the Autobot leader.

Azula meanwhile turned her attention to Aang, who was dizzy from his attack on Zuko. The princess then lunges to the airbender. Zuko tried to join him but was inturupted by a water whip from Katara. Zuko then reformed his fire whips and countered anything Katara threw at him.

"I thought you had changed!" Katara shouted to Zuko before lunging her whips to him to which Zuko easily blocked.

"I have changed," Zuko replied before sending another attack.

Amidst the chaos, Azula and Aang stared each other down, waiting for the other to attack. After a few seconds, Azula firebended backward from her hands and feet causing her to rocket towards Aang while Aang encased himself in a crystal armor while using his earthbending to joust himself toward Azula. Just a few inches from colliding however, Azula suddenly stopped and propelled the fire she emitted towards Aang which makes contact and sends him though a wall, destroying his armor in the process.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sokka, Toph, the Earth King, Momo, Warpath and Ironhide were running to the door to the throne when Starscream dropped down, pointing his missiles at the humans.

"Well well well, what have we he-" Starscream stopped and his confidant smirk was exchanged for a look of fear when he sees Ironhide and Warpath behind the humans. Ironhide was punching his open hand with his other hand, ready for a fight.

"Oh scrap..." was all he could say.

* * *

While that was going on, in the throne room, Ty-Lee, out of her Kyoshi disguise, was trying to teach Bosco to walk on his front feet while Mai just sits on the steps to the throne, obviously bored and also out of her Kyoshi disguise.

"C'mon, it's easy," Ty-Lee said to Bosco, who was just sitting down in front of Ty-Lee. "You just walk on your front paws instead of your rear ones, like this." She then demonstrated by walking on her hands. She was then interupted when Starscream came blasting through the door screaming and crashes into the throne. While wondering what was going on, Ty-Lee's hands were trapped into the floor via Toph's earthbending. Ty-Lee's feet then landed on the ground where they too became encased into the floor. Bosco, who was watching this, clapped his hands and grunted with enthusiasm.

"That _is_ a nice trick," joked Toph as she emerged from the dust with a piece of earth levetating beside her. Sokka got out his boomerang, Warpath charged his cannon and Ironhide readied his blasters as they walked to Mai, who in no way wanted to fight.

"Just take the bear," Mai said. The Earth King then ran up to hug his pet.

"Bosco!" he exclaimed happily. They then ran off to try and join with Aang and the others. Starscream got out of the rubble seconds later and exclaimed in anger before darting through the exit to the throne room.

"Hey! Little help here!?" Ty-Lee asked who was still trapped in the floor.

* * *

Back at the catacombs, Katara was left fending off both Azula and Zuko. Zuko launched a blast to Katara to which she easily dodges, but then Azula came from behind a crystal beside her and shoots a blast which Katara blocked before landing beside Zuko. The two of them then launch a blast each at her. Katara tries to block it, but fails and is sent to a crystal. The impact undid her loopies and knocked her out.

Optimus meanwhile was still clashing with Megatron when the tyrant punches him to the ground and kicks his head which sends him into the same crystal Katara was knocked out on and sends him into a temporary stasis. Bumblebee, seeing this, jumped on Megatron's back and starts shooting his face, but to no avail. Megatron then grabs his neck and brings him face to face.

"I knew I should have taken more than your voice box, Scout!" Megatron states before tossing him to the crystal and knocking him out as well. Megatron then advances to the three of them with Azula, Zuko and Knock Out, all ready to finish them when they hear rumbling where Aang was sent to. Aang, who has awoken from unconsciousness, launched himself out of the wall and slammed into the ground, forming a rock mound that starts rolling towards them with Aang on top of it. Azula, Zuko and the Deceptcions ready themselves for Aang when suddenly, Rumble and Frenzy drop from the cealing and pound the ground with their pile drivers and all of their might which causes the rock mound to collapse and send Aang flying. When he lands, he looks up to see the rest of the Decepticons, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Soundwave and Ravage drop from the cealing as well and surround Katara and the Autobots, the former of which awoken and formed a protective barrier around the three of them while Zuko, Azula, Frenzy and Rumble advance towards Aang. Aang looked back and forth at his situation and Katara and Optimus'.

"There's too many of them," Aang said to himself. Then, he remembered what Pathik told him to do in order to master the Avatar State.

"_The only way, is to let her go..._" Pathik said in Aang's memories. Thinking the only way to save everyone is the Avatar State, Aang looks down and closes his eyes.

"I'm sorry Katara..." he says sadly to himself as he encases himself in crystals and medetates.

* * *

Inside Aang's mind, we see him come face to face with the Avatar spirit, high above the planet and surrounded by the heavens. The spirit surrounds Aang in an orb conjured between his hands, and Aang's tattoos start to glow.

* * *

Outside his mind, Aang opens his eyes, which were glowing intensly. He had mastered the Avatar State. Then the crystal that protected him exploded with spiritual power. Everyone shielded themselves from the bright light emmitted from the explosion. Optimus and Bumblebee awoke to witness Aang levitating upward, his tattoos and eyes glowing white, witnessing an incredible sight. Katara too looked upward, smiling with hope returning to her.

"Oh scrap," Rumble and Frenzy said at the same time, thinking it was the end, but then...the unthinkable happened. A purple blast of energy strikes Aang's body. Everyone turned to see who the culprit was, and it was Megatron, smiling wickedly with his shark like teeth showing and his fusion cannon emmitting smoke. He had fired at Aang with his cannon's full power, not just a stun blast like before with the other Decepticons.

* * *

Back inside Aang's mind, the orb vanishes and the spirit collapses. The path of heavenly light Aang was standing on vanished as well, causing Aang to plummet to the Earth.

* * *

Outside his mind, Aang started to plummet to the ground. Katara, in absolute shock and tears falling from her eyes, started to bend a tidal wave and started to ride on it in hopes of catching Aang, but Soundwave noticed this and jumpped up to knock her off the wave, causing the wave to fall to the ground, but then Optimus came through and punched Soundwave out of the way and lept upward to catch Aang using one hand to hold him and the other to grab onto the wall, sliding downward from the wall. He then lands on the ground and lets Aang's now lifeless body down. Katara came up and bursted into tears, seeing Aang's body. Azula, Zuko, and every Decepticon advanced to the three of them. Optimus glared at Megatron and got out his swords in a fit of rage.

"**MEEEGAAATROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!**" he shouted as he charged to the Decepticon leader, bashing the other Cons out of the way, but Megatron merely got out his wrist sword and blocked Prime's attack and punched him down to the ground.

"Always fighting to your last breath, even when all hope is lost," Megatron said without mercy as he pointed his fully charged cannon at Optimus. "You've failed Optimus Prime...Now the Decepticons will take the victory that is so rightfully ours!" But just before he could end everything then and there, a lightning bolt ran straight through his chest and caused him to fall backwards.

"What!? Who dares..." he shouted before Iroh came down and blocked Aang, Katara, Bee and Optimus from the Cons and the firebenders.

"You've got to get out of here!" he shouted to them. "I'll hold them off as long as I can!" Iroh then sent fire blasts to the Cons, Azula and Zuko as Katara got Aang's body and water jetted upward through the hole Frenzy and Rumble created when they came down from the cealing. Optimus and Bumblebee ran through the tunnel Aang created earlier. Once they were gone, Iroh surrendered and looked at Azula and Zuko with disappointment, especially Zuko, before Knock Out shocked him into unconsciousness. Then Starscream ran up to Megatron.

"My master! The prisoners have escaped!" Starscream reported.

"It matters not Starscream," Azula said to the seeker with a smirk. "The Avatar is dead, and Ba Sing Se is ours."

"Agreed," Megatron added. "They can run, but they have nowhere to go..."

* * *

Outside the palace, everyone regrouped with each other. Katara layed the lifeless body of Aang down as she got out the spirit water from her veil and bended it out.

"Please...let this work," Optimus said before Katara started to hold the water over Aang's wound. The water glows with energy as Katara places the water on the wound and the water seeped into it. Once it was gone though, nothing. Katara held Aang close to her as Optimus places his fingers on his optics, fearing the worst has truly happened, but then, Aang's tattoos glowed for a second and Optimus looked upon the sight, knowing one thing.

"It worked," Optimus said relieved. Katara's eyes shot open as she looked at Aang, who starts to groan and awaken. Katara gasped and smiled with joy and holds him close, greatful that he is alive.

"(What do we do now Optimus?") Bumblebee asked his leader.

"I'm afraid we'll have to split up for now," he answered as he walked to Warpath and handed him a beacon. "Warpath, you will need to follow the children who will leave the city on Appa, and activate this beacon when you land."

"Got it sir," Warpath replied, not as enthusiastic as usual, realizing the seriousness of this situation.

"Autobots, roll out!" Optimus commanded as he, Bee and Irohide transformed and rolled for the exit while the humans and Momo got on Appa and took flight with Warpath flying beside them.

* * *

Back at the palace's throne, Azula is sitting on the throne with a triumphant look on her face. Zuko stood beside her.

"We've done it Zuko," Azula says to her brother. "It's taken 100 years, but the Fire Nation has conqured Ba Sing Se." Zuko however looks down, thinking of what he has done.

"I betrayed Uncle," he says regretfuly as Azula stands up.

"No, HE betrayed YOU," she corrected. "Zuko, when you return home, Father will welcome you as a war hero." But then Zuko remembered that his job was to CATCH the Avatar, not kill him.

"But I don't have the Avatar," he replied. "What if Father doesn't restore my honor?"

* * *

Meanwhile, as the humans on Appa and Warpath flew away from the city, the Earth King takes one last look at what was once his home.

"The Earth Kingdom...has fallen," he says hopelessly as Katara holds an unconscious Aang next to her and they continue flying into the dark, cloudy horizon.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	8. The Awakening

**DISCLAIMER: TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 8: The Awakening

* * *

It had been several weeks since the fall of Ba Sing Se, and Aang is just now awakening from a deep coma. His eyes slowly open as he starts groaning in slight pain. He looked around to see that he was in the quarters of a ship and he was laying on the bed. He slowly sits up, still in pain and quite dizzy, as he keeps looking around.

"What happened?" he weekly asked as he kept looking around, and what he saw on the walls horrified him. Fire Nation insignias. This wasn't just a ship he was on, he was on a Fire Nation ship.

"Oh no!" he exclaimed as he started running, still in pain. He slowly opened the door and used his staff as a cane as he walked through the hallway, trying to find a way out. He reaches a corner when he sees a large Fire Nation soldier with a rather small one.

"You hear something?" the large soldier asked his partner. Aang instinctively used his airbending to send a gust of wind to knock the two soldiers down.

"He's awake!" said the tall soldier as Aang ran down the corridor. The two soldiers then started to run after him.

"Stop! Wait!" the tall soldier said as Aang weakly ran down the corridor and starts climbing up the ladder to the deck. Once he was on the deck, Aang couldn't take the pain anymore and collapsed to the ground. He then sees two Fire Nation soldiers...feeding Momo?

"Momo?" Aang said confusingly as he looked up to his leamur-bat companion. The two soldiers kneeled down, and it was Hakoda and Bato. Aang then got up while Momo flied to his shoulder as Aang looked around and then heard a familiar voice.

"Twinkle-Toes! That's gotta be you!" Toph exclaimed happily as she and Katara, who were wearing Fire Nation attire, as well as all of the Autobots ran up to him. To Aang's surprise, there were three Bots he's never seen before. A tall white and orange bot, one that clearly turned into a jet, and one that looked as though he had scuba gear on him.

"Aang! You're awake!" Katara exclaimed happily.

"Are you sure?" Aang asked while rubbing his eyes. "I feel like I'm dreaming." He was then caught off guard when Katara runs up and hugs him tightly.

"You're not dreaming, you're finally awake!" Katara answered as she let go and someone in full Fire Nation armor walked up to Aang.

"Aang! Good to see you back with the living buddy!" the soldier said as he...hugged him slightly? And that voice obviously made Aang realize who was under the armor.

"Sokka?" Aang asked weakly as he starts to feel dizzy.

"Uh-oh, somebody catch him, he's gonna-" Toph started, but Aang fainted before she could finish and Katara runs up to try and catch him, but he falls to the ground.

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Meanwhile, on Azula's ship which was heading back to the Fire Nation, Zuko looked upon the horizon on the deck as Mai walked up to him.

"Arn't you cold?" Mai asked her boyfriend.

"I've got a lot on my mind," Zuko replied. "It's been so long. Over three years since I was home. I wonder what's changed. I wonder how I've changed." Mai's response was to simply yawn slightly.

"I just asked if you were cold, I didn't ask for your whole life story," Mai joked slightly. Zuko's response was to turn away a bit before Mai walked closer to him and wraps her arms around him.

"Stop worrying," she said before pulling Zuko to share a kiss. Afterward, she lets go and walks away, back inside the ship.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang had awakened again and was being breifed as to what was going on.

"Why are we on a Fire Nation ship?" he asked as a blanket was being placed on his back. "Why is everyone dressed this way? Who are those three?" he then motions to the three new Autobots.

"And why am I the only one who's completely out of it?" he added before Optimus came forward.

"You have been in a deep coma for quite some time Aang," Optimus answered. "Since then, we came across a group of Autobots stranded on an island."

"When we saw that Optimus was onboard your ship, we had Breakaway signal a flare, and now here we are," the white and orange bot explained.

"But for now he needs to take it easy," Katara said. "Aang got hurt pretty bad."

"Very well," Optimus replied. "I will have introduce our three new comrades later." With that, he and the three Autobots moved down into the cargo bay of the ship.

"Oh, and I like your hair Aang," Katara added, which caught Aang off guard.

"I have hair!?" Aang exclaimed before feeling the top of his head, and sure enough, she was right. Aang had a full head of short black hair. "How long was I out!?"

"A few weeks," Katara answered as Hakoda came up to them.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"We're fine Dad," Katara replied while turning her head away from her father. Hakoda then went up to Aang and offered his hand to shake.

"I'm Hakoda, Katara and Sokka's father," he said. Aang tried to get up to shake his hand when Katara stopped him.

"He knows who you are, I just called you 'Dad' didn't I?" she said somewhat harshly.

"...I guess you're right," Hakoda replied, somewhat hurt.

"Nice to officially meet you Chief Hakoda," Aang said, offering his hand, to which Hakoda kneeled down and shook.

"It's an honor to meet you," Hakoda responded.

"Great, great, now you guys have finally met, so would you mind giving us a little privacy?" Katara asked her father, again somewhat harshly and now a bit agitated, while glaring slightly at him.

"...Of course," Hakoda answered with his head down as he walked off.

"Are you mad at your dad or something?" Aang asked Katara.

"What?" Katara asked, still keeping the glare she gave her father, which quickly disappeared after that. "Not at all, why would you say that?" Aang just shrugged at her question when he felt a sudden jolt of pain return to him and groaned slightly.

"Maybe we should go upstairs," Katara suggested while helping Aang up. "You need a healing session."

* * *

When they reached his room, Katara began to run a healing session on Aang's wound by bending water from two bowls and placing the water onto Aang's wound.

"Tell me where your pain feels most intense," Katara said as she moved her hands across Aang's back. His response was to groan slightly in pain and squeeze his eyes shut.

"A little higher," Aang told her. Katara did just that, and then Aang's eyes widened as he enters a flashback and saw exactly what happened.

* * *

_Aang opens his eyes, which were glowing intensly. He had mastered the Avatar State. Then the crystal that protected him_ _exploded with spiritual power. Everyone shielded themselves from the bright light emitted from the explosion. Optimus and_ _Bumblebee awoke to witness Aang levitating upward, his tattoos and eyes glowing white, witnessing an incredible sight._ _Katara too looked upward, smiling with hope returning to her._

* * *

"Wow, you're definitely in the right area there," Aang told Katara.

"I can feel a lot of energy twisted up around there, let me just see if I can..." Katara replied as she pulls the water away from Aang's scar when Aang arches back in pain and has another flashback.

* * *

_A purple blast of energy strikes Aang's body. Everyone turned to see who the culprit was, and it was Megatron, smiling_ _wickedly with his shark like teeth showing and his fusion cannon emitting smoke. He had fired at Aang with his cannon's full_ _power, not just a stun blast like before with the other Decepticons._

* * *

After his flashback, Aang's eyes widened after knowing what had happened that put him in a coma.

"I went down!" Aang exclaimed. "I didn't just get hurt, did I!? It was worse than that! I was gone! But you brought me back."

"I just used the Spirit Water from the North Pole," Katara explained. "I don't know what I did exactly."

"You saved me," Aang responded as he turned to face her. Katara then put her hand on Aang's cheek.

"You need to rest," she said as she got up and walked out to leave Aang to rest.

* * *

Meanwhile, Azula's ship docks at the enterance to the Fire Nation and the cargo door opens to reveal the Decepticons. The tyrannous mechanical beings then walked out of the ship and observed their temporary home. Upon seeing the tall well built structures, namely the palace, they were quite impressed.

"It's no Kaon, but I suppose it will do," Starscream remarked. Then a messenger walks up to Megatron.

"The Fire Lord wishes to see you Megatron," he reported.

* * *

Inside the throne room of the Fire Nation palace, Fire Lord Ozai sat on his throne, waiting patiently for Megatron to arrive. Then the Decepticon leader walked through the archway and stood before Ozai.

"You wished to see me?" he asked, not near as fearful as others who would report to Ozai.

"Yes," Ozai responded, still sitting on his throne. "I wanted to truly see if the reports of 'giant mechanical beings' assisting my daughter and my son in conquering Ba Sing Se."

"As you can see, the reports were quite true Fire Lord Ozai," Megatron responded. "Is that all?"

"I also understand that Azula has made an alliance with you," Ozai continued. "I merely wanted to see if it is an alliance that is worth keeping by asking a few questions."

"Very well then," Megatron said.

"First of all, I would like to know exactly what you are Megatron, and where you came from," Ozai said to the Decepticon warlord.

"We are intelligent robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron," Megatron began. "Our kind is divided amongst two factions: the Decepticons, us, and the Autobots."

"I have heard of these 'Autobots' and that you are at war with them," Ozai said. "Why is that?"

"Us Decepticons believed that Cybertron would be stronger if as opposed to seperated into two sides, it was united as one, where everything is Decepticon domain," Megatron answered. "I understand that your grandfather thought much of the same about this world, and thus is the reason why you are at war as well?"

"Yes," Ozai answered. "Fire Lord Sozin believed in a stronger world where all the land is Fire Nation, but his old friend, Roku, thought otherwise, preferring a weak, unstable and divided world of four nations, so he disposed of him when given the chance."

"This 'Roku' reminds me of the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime," Megatron added. "Perhaps the Fire Nation and the Decepticons arn't so different after all."

"Perhaps, but one last question," Ozai replied. "How would this alliance benefit the Fire Nation?"

"Advanced alien technology, millenia beyond what anyone could ever comprehend," Megatron answered. "Your nation may be strong now, but we can help make it, invincible. All we ask in return is material and energy so we can find a way to return to Cybertron, and that you assist us in destroying the Autobots." Ozai thought this over for a few seconds and smirked slightly at Megatron's proposition.

"I admire the way you think Megatron," he complimented. "Very well, this alliance shall continue." Megatron as well smirked, knowing that the Autobots will be finished.

"Very well then," Megatron said as the two of them bowed in respect and Megatron walks out of the throne room.

* * *

Outside, a ceremony was going on for commemorating the fall of Ba Sing Se. Azula's advisers, Lo and Li, were delivering a speech on a high balcony at the royal plaza, in front of an archway filled with flames and facing a large crowd of Fire Nation citizens.

"Your Princess Azula, clever and beautiful, disguised herself as the enemy and entered the Earth Kingdom's capital," Li began.

"In Ba Sing Se, she found our new allies, the Decepticons, and her brother, Zuko, and together, they faced the Avatar," Lo continued.

"And the Avatar fell, and the Earth Kingdom fell!" both of them proudly declared.

* * *

_The Decepticons and the Fire Nation army were positioned outside the wall, ready to attack and secure their victory. Rumble and Frenzy, who were on top of the wall, activated their pile drivers and forced a portion of the wall to collapse._

_"Decepticons, transform and rise up!" Megatron shouted as he raised his fist upward and transformed into a Cybertronian jet. The other Cons then transformed and followed Megatron to the city with the army close behind._

* * *

"Our new allies quickly overtook the entire city," Li declared. "They went to Ba Sing Se's Great Walls, and brought them down!" the last part, Lo proclaimed with her twin sister.

* * *

_The Fire Nation troops, some on top of rhinos, Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage and Knock Out marched through the residential section of the city, not caring about the citizens' reactions, not even a man and a woman, holding their crying child, close together while the woman sobbed silently._

* * *

"The armies of the Fire Nation surged through the wall and swarmed over Ba Sing Se, securing our victory!" Lo proclaimed.

* * *

_The palace was then surrounded by Fire Nation tanks and Cybertronian jets, securing the Fire Nation's capture of the Earth __Kingdom capital._

* * *

"Now the heroes have returned home!" both sisters announced before Li took over again. "Your princess, Azula!" Upon hearing her name, Azula walked through the archway, now in her royal armor, and to the edge of the balcony, looking over the crowd cheering for her.

"Our new ally, Megatron!" Lo announced. Upon hearing his name, Megatron, along with Starscream and Soundwave walked through the archway and to the edge beside Azula, looking upon the cheering crowd.

"And after three long years, your prince has returned, Zuko!" Lo and Li announced as Zuko, sullenly gazing over the cheering crowd, walks to the edge of the balcony beside three the Decepticons. But while the celebration was going on, something sinister inside the mind of Starscream was forming.

'If I am to gain control of the Decepticons and finally rid myself of Megatron, I need to ally myself with one of these children,' he thought to himself. 'The boy seems powerful, but judging upon his sorrow expression, he's not entirely proud of his accomplishment. A sign of weakness that will inevitably destroy him. The girl however, strong, cunning, and does not feel at all guilty of her actions...she'll be perfect,' With that thought, he couldn't help but smirk to himself.

'Enjoy the next few weeks Megatron,' Starscream thought. 'They shall be your last!'

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation ship, Aang was being briefed as to what was going on. Sokka was sitting on a crate while everyone else surrounded him, the humans eating bowls of noodles.

"After what happened in Ba Sing Se, we had to get you to safety," Sokka started. "We flew back to Chameleon Bay where we found my father and the other Water Tribe men. The Earth king decided he wanted to travel the world in disguise, so he set off alone, well not completely alone. Soon the bay was overrun with Fire Nation ships. Rather than fight them, we just sent in Warpath."

"It's a miracle the ship wasn't torn to pieces," the white and orange bot joked dryly.

"Since then, we contacted Optimus and met up in The Serpant's Pass," Sokka continued. "We passed a few Fire Nation ships, but so far, but none have bothered us."

"After crossing The Serpant's Pass, we saw an Autobot flare light up the sky," Optimus said. "We sailed there and found the three Autobots before you." He then motions his hand to the white and orange bot.

"Our medical officer, Ratchet," Optimus said before moving his hand to the air bot. "One of our finest airmen, Breakaway," Finally, he motioned his hand to the bot in what looked like scuba gear. "And the Wrecker known as Seaspray."

"Pleased to meet you young Avatar," Ratchet said. "Optimus has told me a great deal about you."

"Pleased to meet you Ratchet," Aang responded before turning to Optimus, remembering that he said Seaspray was a 'Wrecker.' "Optimus, what's a Wrecker?"

"The Wreckers are a special task force composed of some of our strongest soldiers," Optimus answered.

"And when you have a Wrecker on your side, you don't call for back up, you call for clean up!" Seaspray proclaimed in a slightly gargled voice. Aang smiled slightly at Seaspray's enthusiasm before turning back to Sokka.

"So, what now?" he asked.

"We've been working on a modified version of the invasion plan," Hakoda answered.

"It's SOKKA'S invasion plan," Katara harshly corrected.

"...Yes, Sokka's plan," Hakoda replied. "We won't be able to mount a massive invasion plan with out the Earth King's armies, but the solar eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vulnerable."

"So we're planning a smaller invasion," Sokka continued. "Just the Bots and a rag-tag team of our friends and allies from around the Earth Kingdom. We already ran into Pipsqueak and The Duke." He then motioned to the large and short Fire Nation soldiers, the large one being Pipsqueak and the short one being The Duke. The Duke was on Pipsqueak's shoulder eating his noodles.

"Good to see you again Aang," said Pipsqueak.

"And the best part is," Sokka added. "The eclipse and the Bots arn't even our biggest advantages. We have a secret." He then leaned forward slightly to whisper to Aang.

"You," he finished, which left Aang confused.

"Me?" he asked.

"This may come as a shock to you Aang, but as of now, this world believes that you are offline," Optimus said.

"Offline?" Aang asked.

"He means dead," Sokka corrected, and yep, that bombshell did indeed shock Aang.

"The world thinks I'm dead!?" he exclaims as he runs to the railing of the side of the ship, then turns back around. "How is that good news!? THAT'S TERRIBLE!"

"Aang," Breakaway said as he stepped forward. "One of the key things they taught me in flight school is 'stealth.' With this we'll have the element of surprise on our side."

"No no no no no," Aang retaliated. "You have no idea Breakaway. This so messed up!" Just then, they hear a foghorn from a short distance.

"(Incoming!)" Bumblebee said as a Fire Nation ship closed in on them. Even worse was the fact that Thundercracker and Skywarp were on the deck.

"I'll handle this," Aang said with confidence. "The Avatar is back!" He then gets his glider ready, only for the pain to jolt back to him as he clutches his side and falls to his knee, but tries to get on his glider.

"Aang, wait!" Katara said as she rushed up to him. "Remember, they don't know we're not Fire Nation." Aang thinks for a minute while sweating before reluctantly retracting his glider.

"Everyone just stay calm," Hakoda instructed. "Bato and I will take care of this." Him and Bato then got Fire Nation guard helmets on to further conceal their identities.

"Signal us if you require assistance," Optimus instructed as he and the other Autobots, as well as Appa, got in the cargo pit and The Duke and Pipsqueak have a tarp placed over them. The children in the meantime went through then stairs to join them.

"I hate not being able to do anything," Aang whispered.

"Join the club," Warpath whispered back before Katara shushes both of them.

"Hopefuly you won't need to," Toph whispered to Aang.

* * *

When the two ships stopped parallel to each other, the enemy warship readied a bridge to walk to the deck of the Gaang's warship as a Fire Nation officer, two soldiers and Thundercracker walked to the deck.

"Commander, why are you off course?" the officer asked Hakoda. "All Western Fleet ships are suppose to be moving toward Ba Sing Se to support the occupation."

"Actually, we're from the, Easter Fleet," Hakoda nervously responded. "We have orders to deliver some cargo."

"Ah, Eastern Fleet," the officer replied. "Well, nice of Admiral Chan to let us know he was sending one of his ships our way."

"I'm sure Admiral Chan meant no disrespect sir," Bato said.

"I mean, how hard is it to write a quick note and send a hawk our way!?" the officer asked, aggravated.

"Next time, we'll send two hawks to be sure you get the message," Hakoda said. The officer and Hakoda then bow as the three firebenders and the seeker walked back to their ship before Bato and Hakoda walk off.

"Can I blow 'em up now?" Thundercracker asked the officer, aching to blow something up since he got here.

"And why should I allow that?" the officer asked, confused about the Decepticon's violent intentions.

"Because sir," one of the soldiers added. "Admiral Chan has been on leave for two months on Ember Island."

"What!?" the officer asked. "Why doesn't anyone ever tell me anything!? Something's not right. They should've known that. I think this is a captures ship." He then turned to Thundercracker to give his next order.

"Just stay quiet until we're safely across the ramp, then sink this ship!" he commanded.

"Just say the word, and I'll leave no trace," Thundercracker remarked, but fortunately, Toph heard everything as she climbs out of the stairway.

"They know!" she declared as she metalbends the bridge apart, sending the firebenders and the Con down to the ocean bellow them.

"Autobots, prepare for battle!" Optimus ordered his comrades as he got out of the cargo pit with the others, and the battle commenced.

* * *

To be continued...


	9. Honor and Hope

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 9: Honor and Hope

* * *

Outside the Fire Nation palace, Zuko was kneeled down next to a pond wearing his royal attire. He had yet to see his father and was nervous, so to try and ease the tension, he decided to go and feed some turtle ducks. He teared a piece of bread and threw it at a mother turtle duck and her ducklings, who gladly accepted the bread crumbs, but then a shadow loomed over them and they panicked and swam off. The shadow was Azula's, who walked up to Zuko to check on him.

"You seem so downcast, has Mai gotten to you already?" she asked. "Though actually, Mai has been in a strangely good mood lately."

"I haven't seen Dad yet," Zuko answered. "I haven't seen him in three years, since I was banished."

"So what?" Azula asked.

"So I didn't capture the Avatar," Zuko answered.

"Who cares?" Azula asked while gesturing her hands upward slightly. "The Avatar's dead." Zuko then turned his head away at that statement. Now Azula knew he knew something she didn't. "Unless, you think he somehow, miraculously survived." Zuko kept looking away from his sister as he remembered something from the catacombs of Ba Sing Se.

* * *

_"This is water from the Spirit Oasis from the North Pole," Katara explained. "It has special properties, so I've been saving it for something important."_

* * *

The Avatar could have somehow survived Megatron's sudden attack, but he couldn't risk loosing the one chance he has at getting his honor back.

"No..." he answered to Azula. "There's no way he could've survived." Azula looked into Zuko's eyes, to which Zuko responded with a glare. There was no question to Azula that he was lying, but she decided to play along with this for now.

"Well, then I'm sure you have nothing to worry about," Azula said before she leaves Zuko alone to his thoughts.

* * *

Underneeth the palace, Megatron was overseeing construction of his new base. Ozai allowed the use of his slaves and construction workers to assist the Decepticons with any construction processes. Then, Knock Out came in from the archway to his master.

"Lord Megatron, now that we are at the Fire Nation, what do you suggest our next move be?" Knock Out asked as Megatron turned to face him.

"I cannot risk the Autobots' numbers increasing Knock Out," Megatron stated. "We will need to build a space bridge and use it to send in reinforcements."

"But my liege, the resources the Firebenders have are much more primative that our materials," Knock Out explained. "We can only build a smaller space bridge than the one on Cybertron, and even then, we'd have to recharge it with every use!"

"I did not ask for drawbacks Knock Out," Megatron growled as he bent down to get face to face with Knock Out. "I asked that a space bridge be built, no matter the setbacks we may encounter, understood?"

"Y-yes my lord," Knock Out answered nervously as he walked out to tell the workers of their new assignment. Then Megatron had a wrist device activate on his arm.

"I only have enough energon to make one transmission to Cybertron," he said to himself. "One will be enough."

* * *

Back on Cybertron, in the Decepticon city of Kaon, reconstruction of the capital building was going on when every Decepticon on Cybertron received a transmission.

"Attention Decepticons," the transmission played. "Despite what rumors you may have heard during my disappearance, your lord and master is alive and well. The space bridge sent me, as well as a small group of Decepticons, to a primitive world, lightyears away from Cybertron. I send this transmission to report that as I speak, we are currently constructing a small space bridge with what materials we have here. I require a platoon of Vehicons, as well as Dreadwing, Airachnid, Astrotrain and Blitzwing to meet at these coordinates in exactly two days. 528, 491. There we will open the space bridge and you will be sent to this world to join us. The rest of you will search the planet for anything of value and report to us once we have constructed a long range transmitter. Do NOT disappoint me Decepticons." With that, every Decepticon in the city immediately got to work.

* * *

Meanwhile, the firebender soldiers on the ship intercepting the Gaang were loading oil covered rocks on catapults. They then used their fiebending to light them on fire before launching them to the ship while Thundercracker and Skywarp fired missiles to increase the damage. They were capable of hitting the hull on the side of the ship, but fortunately no punctures were made.

"Load the Toph!" Toph ordered before Pipsqueak got a large disc shaped boulder ready and dropped it in front of her. Toph then earthbended the disk and launched it to a catapult, destroying it, but then Thundercracker and Skywarp transformed into their jet modes and started flying to the ship.

"Breakaway, draw their fire away from the ship!" Optimus ordered the Airialbot.

"Yes sir!" Breakaway replied before transforming into his jet mode and chased after Thundercracker and Skywarp, firing at them and distracting them from the ship as they turned around and went after him. While that was going on, a catapult fired another projectile, but then Warpath ran in and charged his cannon.

"KA-BLAM!" he shouted while he fired his cannon at the projectile, destroying it instantly.

Inside the ship, Sokka, Aang and Ratchet were listening to the chaos. Aang tried to run in but Sokka grabbed him and just shook his head, much to Aang's displeasure as he starts banging his head against his staff.

The intercepting ship then readied a ballista and fired the harpoon at the ship's hull, puncturing it, but Seaspray, who was in his hovercraft mode and in the water, used his lasers to cut the harpoon's chains before it did more damage while Katara, who was standing close to the ship's edge, exhaled mist to the hull and instantly froze it, sealing the hole to prevent the ship from sinking.

"I'm gonna give us some cover!" Katara declared as she waterbends a huge section of the ocean and forms a cloud of fog to cover them somewhat. It was enough to engulf both ships in a cloud of mist, but then a projectile came in and destroyed what stone ammunition Toph had to earthbend. The Autobots on the ship retaliated with firing half blindly at the ship.

Back with Sokka, Aang and Ratchet, Aang couldn't take it anymore.

"I can't just stand by and do nothing!" Aang exclaimed as he started running out the door.

"Aang, no!" Sokka replied as Ratchet ran up and grabbed his staff in time.

"As an Autobot medic, I highly suggest you get more proper rest before you become fit for combat!" he ordered sternly.

"And you have to stay secret," Sokka added as Ratchet escorted Aang back inside. "Just let us handle this."

"Fine," Aang replied bluntly as he and Ratchet went inside when Sokka was suddenly engulfed with a gust of smoke due to an explosion, and even worse, the mist cloud was disappearing, along with any chances of cover. Another projectile hits the back end of the ship's deck and catches on fire, to which Katara put out with water from the ocean.

"How we doin'?" Toph asked Sokka.

"Things couldn't get much worse," Sokka replied. Right on que, a giant sea serpent emerges from the water, towering over the ships and screeching.

"Leaking lubricants!" Ironhide exclaimed.

"The Universe just loves proving me wrong, doesn't it?" Sokka asked.

"You make it too easy!" Toph replied. The serpent was about to strike when a laser blast hits him. The serpent turns and believes it came from the intercepting ship.

Underwater, Seaspray swam away from the enemy ship and back to his own.

"Have fun with our new entree!" Seaspray gargled before bursting out into laughter.

The serpent then swam underwater and emerged, wrapping its body around the vessel.

"Frag this! We're outta here!" Thundercracker exclaimed as he and Skywarp flew off and back to the Fire Nation.

"Hey! What about us!?" a Firebender soldier asked.

"Fend for yourselves fire fleshies!" Skywarp replied as they flew off while the serpent The Gaang took this opportunity to sail away from the enemy.

"Thank you The Universe!" Sokka exclaimed.

"This kind of stuff happen to you often Toph?" Ironhide asked his friend.

"All the time," Toph remarked as she elbowed Ironhide's leg as a friendly gesture.

* * *

The ship eventually docked in a nearby Fire Nation town. Aang was in his room, laying on his bed, looking upward at the ceiling. Then the door oppened and Toph, Sokka and Katara entered his room. Aang sat up to see his friends.

"Hey Aang, we're going into town to find some dinner," Toph said. Just then, Aang clutches his stomach as it growled, indicating that he was hungry.

"Well, I am pretty hungry," Aang responded. "Maybe dinner's a good idea." Sokka then went forward with a headband.

"Here, tie this around your head," Sokka suggested, to which Aang just glared slightly at. "It'll cover your arrow."

"I'm not going out if I can't wear my arrow proudly!" Aang replied as he layed back down.

"Aang, come on, be practical," Sokka responded when Katara came forward.

"You guys go ahead without us," she suggested. "We'll catch up with you." With that, Sokka and Toph walked out of Aang's room as Katara walked to Aang, who was still laying down on his bed.

"I think I understand why being a secret bothers you so much," she said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "You don't want people to think you failed."

"You're right, I don't," Aang replied. "But the problem is, I DID fail."

"Aang, that's not true," Katara said reassuringly.

"It IS true," Aang said as he stood up. "I was in Ba Sing Se, I was there, but I lost, and now the Earth Kingdom is fallen for good."

"It's not for good," Katara said as she got up. "Remember, there's still a plan: the invasion."

"And I hate the invasion plan too!" Aang replied in anger as he quickly turned to grab the Fire Nation tapestry over his bed and rips it down, knocking his staff down in the process. "I don't want you, or anyone else risking your lives to fix my mistakes! I've always known that I would have to face the Fire Lord, but now, I need to do it alone."

"Aang," Katara began before Aang stopped her.

"Katara, please, just go, please" Aang said. Katara then hesitantly and sadly turned around to walk out.

"Is there anything you need?" Katara asked before she left. Aang just looked down and closed his eyes.

"I need to redeem myself...I need my honor back..." he answered.

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, Zuko walked down the long hallway to his father's throne to finally see him after three years. Inside his mind, his thoughts ran rampant. Would his father accept him? Would he regain his honor even after not capturing the Avatar? There was only one way to find out. Once he reached the archway, he took a deep breath and pushes the curtain aside to see his father on his throne, in the shadows, with a wall of fire surrounding him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Katara was walking to Aang's room with a tray of food.

"I brought you some food," Katara said, but to her shock, Aang was gone. Her eyes instantly widened as she dropped the tray and immediately ran off.

* * *

Aang had left the ship in secrecy and was flying away on his glider through the clouds, trying to overcome the pain he was  
still in.

* * *

Zuko immediately got on his knees and bowed when he approached his father for the first time in years.

"You have been away for a long time," Ozai said to his son. "I see the weight of your travels ha changed you. You have redeemed yourself my son." He then gets up and walks through the fire and the shadows and to his still bowing son, who looked up to see his father.

"Welcome home..." Ozai said.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang was still gliding through the clouds when his pain started to come back to him. He clutched his chest and started to plummet to the sea, but immediately gains control and continues gliding.

* * *

On the bridge tower of the ship, Katara ran to her father, Bato, Optimus and Bumblebee to alert them of Aang's disappearance, tears in her eyes. Seeing his friend in this state, Bumblebee knew that she needed some time to speak with her father.

"(We'll leave you two alone,)" Bumblebee beeped as he, Optimus and Bato walked off to leave Katara and Hakoda alone.

"What's wrong Katara?" Hakoda asked as his daughter came up to him.

"He left," she replied.

"What?" Hakoda asked, somewhat confused at Katara's answer.

"Aang," she answered. "He just took his glider and disappeared. He has this ridiculous notion that he has to save the world alone, that it's all his responsibility."

"Maybe that's his way of being brave," Hakoda said, trying to make things seem better than it already is, but that would only make Katara feel worse.

"It's NOT brave, it's selfish and stupid!" Katara replied in anger. "We could be helping him, and I know the world needs him, but doesn't he know that we need him too!? How could he just leave us behind!?" Hakoda just looked to his right to let the words sink in as he realizes that this may not be just about Aang leaving them behind.

"You're talking about me too, aren't you?" he asked, remembering when he had to leave the Southern Water Tribe to help fight in the war.

"How could you leave us Dad?" Katara asked while starting to cry. "I mean I know we had Gran Gran and she loved us, but...but we were just so lost without you." Katara couldn't take it anymore and turned away from her father while sobbing and placing both of her hands on her face. Hakoda responded by walking up to her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Katara," he said. Then Katara turned to hug her father and cry on his chest.

"I understand why you left," she begun. "I really do, and I know that you had to go, so why do I still feel this way!? I was so sad and angry, and hurt."

"I love you more than anything," Hakoda responded. "You and your brother are my entire world. I thought about you every day I was gone, and every night when I went to sleep, I would lay awake missing you so much, it would ache." The two of them continued to hug while Katara was still in tears. Upon seeing this sight, Breakaway transformed into his jet mode and flew off. Katara heard this and ran up to the railings of the deck.

"Breakaway!" she shouted to the Airialbot. "What are you doing!?"

* * *

Breakaway had flown miles away from the ship when he recieved a transmission from Optimus.

"Breakaway," Optimus began. "Your energon signature is five miles away from the ship! Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find this kid Optimus," Breakaway answered. "He means too much to this world to get himself killed and he may be our only hope to winning this war."

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, Zuko was still on his knees in his father's throne room as Ozai paces back and forth in front of his son.

"I am proud of you Prince Zuko," he declared. "I am proud because you and your sister conquered Ba Sing Se. I am proud because you have found us our valuable new allies. I am proud of you because when your loyalty was tested, by your treacherous uncle, you did the right thing, and captured the traitor. And I am proudest of all of your most legendary accomplishment...you slayed the Avatar." Upon hearing that, Zuko's eyes widened. Megatron was the one that slayed the Avatar, not him.

"What did you hear?" Zuko asked his father.

"Azula and Megatron told me everything," he answered. "They said they were amazed and impressed with your power and ferocity at the moment of truth." Zuko just looked away slightly at his answer and learning of his sister and Megatron's lie.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang was still gliding over the ocean, still trying to keep control of his glider despite the pain he was in, when he spots an island with a blockade of Fire Nation ships.

"Blockade," he said to himself as he turned around and tried to fly in the other direction when he drops his glider and passes out due to the intense pain. He would have landed in the water and drowned, but then Breakaway swooped in, turned into his robot mode and caught him before transforming back to his jet mode with Aang in the cockpit.

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, Zuko walked up to the enterance of his sister's room when Ravage, who was guarding Azula, got in an offensive position and snarled at Zuko.

"Heal Ravage, I'm here to see my sister," Zuko said. Ravage recognized the voice as Zuko's and walked out of the way. Zuko walked inside Azula's room to see Azula on her bed sleeping.

"Why'd you do it?" Zuko asked.

"You're going to have to be a little more specific," Azula replied, still lying on her bed with her eyes closed.

"Why did you and Megatron tell Father that I was the one who killed the Avatar?" Zuko asked.

"Can't this wait until morning?" Azula asked, clearly tired and wanting to get some sleep.

"It, can't," Zuko sternly answered. Azula merely sighed and opened her eyes while sitting up on her bed.

"Fine," she replied. "You seemed so worried about how Father would treat you because you hadn't captured the Avatar, so I convinced Megatron to give the credit to you. I figured, if I gave you the credit, you'd have nothing to worry about."

"But why?" Zuko asked as Azula got up out of bed.

"Call it a generous gesture," she answered. "I wanted to thank you for your help, and I was happy to share the glory." Zuko however learned never to trust Azula, no matter what.

"You're lying," he declared as Azula walked past him.

"If you say so," she nonchalantly replied.

"You have another motive for this," Zuko said. "I just haven't figured out what it is."

"Please Zuko," Azula responded while stretching her arms before walking back to him. "What ulterior motive could I have? What could I possibly gain by letting you get all the glory for defeating the Avatar?...Unless, somehow, the Avatar was actually alive. All that glory would suddenly turn to shame, and foolishness, but you said it yourself, that was impossible." Zuko just glared at his sister and turned to leave Azula's room while she layed back down on her bed.

"Sleep well Zuzu," she said before closing her eyes and going to sleep while Zuko walked down the hallway, not aware that he was being watched by a drone with yellow tips on its wings named "Buzzsaw," a new drone Soundwave created following Laserbeak's destruction. Buzzsaw silently followed Zuko wherever he went, spying on his actions.

* * *

While that was going on, Breakaway was flying with an unconsious Aang, trying to fly back to the ship when he realized his energon was running low, and the rain storm wasn't helping much.

"Frag!" he exclaimed. "If I don't find somewhere to land so I can recharge, Aang and I are goners!"

* * *

Meanwhile, inside Aang's mind, he was worrying about the state he was in.

'I'm not gonna make it...I failed...' he thought to himself, but just then, the spirit of the previous Avatar, Roku, appeared before him.

"Roku?" he asked.

"You haven't failed Aang," the former Avatar said to him.

"But everyone think's I'm dead again," Aang responded. "They think I've abandoned them and I'm loosing this war. I'm letting the whole world down."

"If anyone is to blame for the state of the world, it is me," Roku replied. "I should've seen this war coming, and prevented it. You inherited my problems and my mistakes, but I also believe that you are destined to redeem me, and save this world."

"I don't know," Aang said while absorbing Roku's words when suddenly, a bright light flashed before him. What came out of the light was an elderly Autobot with what looked like a long metal beard on him, and whose appearance aspired great wisdom and courage.

"W-who are you?" Aang asked the Cybertronian.

"Young Avatar, my name is Alpha Trion, the archivist of Iacon and mentor to Optimus Prime," he answered. "I have come to tell you that you have already saved this world, and you will again, multiple times, but you cannot give up hope. If you loose all hope, then the Fire Nation and the Decepticons will conquer this world, and may even spread they're tyranny to other worlds, costing the lives of billions." Aang let Alpha Trion's words sink into him as he reaches a conclusion and his look of hopelessness turns into a look of determination.

"You're right Alpha Trion," Aang said. "I won't give up."

"Then return to your world, and light this world and our world's darkest hour, until all are one," Alpha Trion responded before a bright light engulfed the three of them.

* * *

Aang then awoke from his unconsious state to find himself inside the cockpit of a Cybertronian jet.

"Well, look who just went back online!" Breakaway said in an enthusiastic manner.

"B-Breakaway?" Aang asked.

"Yup!" he responded as he sees a volcanis island close by and starts to descend to it while sending a transmission to Optimus.

"Optimus, come in, I found Aang!" he reported. "Meet us in these coordinates."

* * *

The ship eventually docked to the island in the morning. Once the Gaang spotted him, Katara ran up to Aang and hugged him.

"You're okay!" she proclaimed as Toph, Sokka, Momo and Appa gather around for a group hug.

"I have so much to do," Aang said as his friends broke the group hug.

"I know, but you'll have our help," Katara responded.

"You didn't think you could get out of training just by coming to the Fire Nation, did you?" Toph joked to Aang. Meanwhile, Ironhide, Bumblebee and Warpath walked up to Breakaway, all of which sported different color schemes and Decepticon insignias. (imagine them in their Shattered Glass color schemes with Decepticon insignias)

"Uh, what's going on?" Breakaway asked.

"We're splittin' up," Ironhide answered. "Prime's gonna go with Hakoda along with Seaspray and Ratchet to find some more allies for the invasion and we'll join up with them on the day of the eclipse. We're hoping he finds some more of our lost soldiers along the way too."

"Okaaay, but why the new looks?" Breakaway asked.

"We're gonna have to lay low in the Fire Nation in the meantime, and we're gonna need disguises Breakaway," Sokka answered.

"(You should probably do the same thing,)" Bumblebee added.

"Oh!" Breakaway exclaimed before sighing in relief. "I thought you joined up with the Cons while we were gone!" Just then, Toph sensed something coming out of the water.

"Hey, what's-" she started before she picked the object up, and it was Aang's glider, burnt and broken.

"Oh...it's your glider," she said to Aang while she handed it to him.

"That's okay," Aang replied. "If someone saw it, it would give away my identity. It's better for now that no one knows I'm alive." With that, Aang slammed his glider into the lava, letting it burn before walking away.

* * *

Meanwhile, far away from the Fire Nation palace, Zuko was walking through a group of coal mining facilities, hooded to hide his identity, when a tall man with a metal arm and right foot and what looked like a third eye tattoo on his forehead stepped from the shadows.

"You're sure you wern't followed?" Zuko asked the metal man, to which he didn't respond. "I've heard about you. They say you're good at what you do, and even better at keeping secrets. The Avatar's alive. I want you to find him, and end him." But unknown to them, Buzzsaw was watching and recording everything before flying off to report this to Megatron and Azula.

* * *

In the underground Decepticon lair, Azula and Megatron were walking down the hallway so Azula could observe the new Decepticon arrivals, thanks to the space bridge the Cons constructed, and assign them with a task.

"So, the Avatar's alive..." Megatron said. "I must say, I'm quite impressed. No one has been able to survive a fully charged blast from my fusion cannon up until now."

"Be that as it may Megatron, we still need to end him if we are to win this war," Azula responded before they entered a room with the four new arrivals. A helecopter/spider hybrid femmebot known as "Airachnid," a tan and purple tripple changer named "Blitzwing," a dark grey and purple triple changer called "Astrotrain," and a giant blue and gold seeker known as "Dreadwing."

"Well then, make your choice Princess," Megatron said as he motioned to the four Decepticons. Azula carefully observed them before she pointed to Dreadwing.

"You, come here," she said to the seeker. Dreadwing responded by walking to the two of them and kneeling in front of Megatron.

"Ah, a wise choice Princess," Megatron said before turning to the seeker. "Rise Dreadwing,"

"What is your bidding my leige?" Dreadwing said in a deep, slightly growling while he rose.

"You are to terminate this bounty hunter that Prince Zuko has hired, locate the Avatar as well as his Autobot allies, and end them..." Megatron commanded.

"With pleasure my master," Dreadwing responded. "The Autobots shall pay for what they did to Skyquake!"

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	10. Entering the Fire Nation

**DISCLAIMER: TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 10: Entering the Fire Nation

* * *

In the Decepticon lair, Knock Out rushed down the hallway to report to Megatron. Recently, something had been discovered under Ba Sing Se, and what they found could change the tides both of the wars. When he finally spotted Megatron, he immediately kneeled before his master.

"Rise Knock Out," Megatron said. "Report..."

"Lord Megatron, we have just made an amazing discovery under the Earth Kingdom's capital!" Knock Out reported as he rose.

"Oh? And what is it that you found?" Megatron asked. With that, Knock Out pulled out a crystal, but unlike the crystals under Ba Sing Se, this one had a blue tint and glowed with energy. Megatron's optics widened, not believing what Knock Out had found.

"It can't be..." Megatron said.

"Yes my liege," Knock Out replied. "Energon..."

* * *

This was of course reported to Ozai, as Megatron held the crystal in front of him with Knock Out and Starscream beside him.

"This is the lifeforce of all Cybertronians," Megatron started. "It powers everything that we build as well as keep us functional. With this as our energy reserve, the Autobots and your enemies will not stand a chance!"

"What do you propose?" Ozai asked.

"It's simple really," Starscream answered. "Basically, allow Knock Out to govern Ba Sing Se and turn it into a giant energon mine so we can harvest as much as we can, as well as use the earthbender citizens to mine it out. I also request that we construct a few mines in the Fire Nation in case we find any here." Ozai thought this proposition over. This could cost millions, but if this 'energon' is as powerful as Megatron says it is, then it is too good of an offer to decline.

"Very well then," Ozai answered. "We will allow your plan for your mines to go forward, but this material had better not disappoint Megatron."

"Oh I assure you Ozai," Megatron replied with a wicked smirk. "It shall not..."

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS: PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Soon night fell upon the Fire Nation, but Zuko was having a hard time sleeping. He tossed and turned on his bed, his thoughts running across his mind until he awakened. He then got up and grabbed a robe, then headed outside.

* * *

Zuko soon made it, the robe's hood concealing him from most who saw him, to the entrance of the capital city prison, a maximum security prison where his uncle was being held. Once he was close to the entracne, a guard on the roof saw him.

"Who's there!?" the guard asked. Zuko, seeing the guard, walked away while the guard shrugged it off and went back to his post.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Gaang and the Autobots were hiding out in a cave. Sokka was keeping guard in a somewhat overblown and paranoid manner, Aang, Katara and Toph discussed their next move, and the four Autobots were finishing repainting Breakaway while discussing new codenames to conceal their identities.

"Alright, so it's official," Ironhide declared. "I'll be 'Barricade,' Warpath'll be 'Demolisher,' Bumbblebee'll be 'Wasp,' and Breakaway'll be 'Ramjet.'

"Got it Ir-I mean, Barricade," Breakaway replied.

"(But how are we gonna explain how we got here?)" Bumbblebee asked.

"We'll just say we were caught in the space bridge explosion and ended up in a different part of this world," Ironhide answered.

"Sh! Keep quiet!" Sokka exclaimed quietly.

"Yeah, we wouldn't wanna bird to hear them chatting in here and turn us in," Toph sarcastically added.

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed. "We're in enemy territory. Those are ENEMY birds." He then pointed up to a group of toucan puffins standing on a rock above him, one of which jumped onto Sokka's head and squaked, much to Sokka's dismay. The Gaang responded by chuckling slightly.

"You know, as fun as "cave life" sounds, we can't just stay here until the eclipse," Warpath said.

"Yeah, besides, does anyone wanna sit in the dirt and eat cave hoppers?" Toph added before smacking the stone in the wall causing a few cave hoppers to jump out of it. Momo then races to grab one and starts eating it, much to the Gaang's disgust.

"Warpath and Toph are right," Katara said. "We need to do what the Autobots are doing and disguise ourselves so we can lay low in the Fire Nation."

"I'll scout the area to see if I can find anything," Breakaway added before transforming into his jet mode and blasting away from the cave.

* * *

Minutes later, Breakaway returned with his report. There was a house a few yards from here and the people who lived there were drying their clothes. The Gaang decided to go there and have a look.

"I don't know about this," Aang said. "These clothes belong to somebody."

"I call the silk robe!" Katara said as she surprisingly darted to the silk robe she saw.

"But, if it's essential to our survival, then I call the suit!" Aang said before he darted to the clothing he saw as well. Toph responded by doing the same while Sokka looked through the clothing slowly and like a teenage girl in a shopping mall. He eventually decided on something and went to join the others.

* * *

Soon the four of them changed into the clothing they took. In addition to the suit, Aang got a headband and put it over the arrow tattoo on his forehead.

"Ta-da! Normal kid!" he proclaimed. Toph meanwhile contemplated on a pair of shoes she got.

"Hm...I should probably wear shoes, but then I won't be able to see as well," she said as she sat down. "Sorry shoes." She then pushed her foot against one of the shoes until the sole launched off the shoe and into Sokka's face.

"Finally, a stylish shoe for the blind earthbender," Toph remarked.

"How do I look?" Katara asked after she got dressed. Aang of course was in awe at her beauty and blushed slightly before noticing something.

"Uh, your mom's necklace," he reminded her.

"Oh, oh yeah," Katara sadly said as she took her mom's necklace off for the first time in years. "I guess it's pretty obviously Water Tribe, isn't it?"

* * *

Eventually they went into town alongside the disguised Autobots. Katara went up to a stand to purchase a new necklace while Toph puts on a crown and Sokka wears a top-knot. Aang meanwhile hid Momo inside his shirt.

"Isn't there a better way to hide him?" Breakaway asked. "Don't you have some kind of compartment or something to keep him in?"

"I wouldn't be doing this if I did Bre-I mean, Ramjet," Aang said, quickly remembering the Bots' new codenames. "Anyway, I use to visit my friend Kuzon here a hundred years ago, so everyone just fallow my lead and stay cool, or as they say in the Fire Nation, stay flamin'." Even Warpath couldn't help but groan slightly at that, but that wasn't the end of his awkward remarks. The Gaang and the Bots then started to walk through town.

"Greetings my good hotman!" Aang said to a civilian who was eating meat on a stick.

"Uh, hi," the man confusingly said. "I guess..." Sokka just shrugged at him while they passed. The group then walked up to a meat stand.

"Oh, we're going to a meat place?" Aang asked.

"Come on Aang, everyone here eats meat. Even the meat!" Sokka responded before pointing to a hippo cow eating a piece of meat swarming with flies. Even the Bots were slightly grossed out by that.

"Uh, you guys go ahead," Ironhide said as he backed away.

"Yeah, I'll just get some lettuce out of the garbage," Aang added as he turned around while the rest entered the meat place. While looking for something, he kept greeting several random people (or hotmen as he called them) until two Fire Nation soldiers and a Vehicon approach him.

"It's over, we caught you," the male soldier declared much to Aang's shock. What also shocked him was that there was another Decepticon here, but how?

"Who me?" Aang asked, trying to play innocent.

"Couldn't be more obvious you don't belong here," the Vehicon added. "Next time ya play hooky, try taking off your school uniform." Aang, slightly relieved but also worried, looked at his clothes to see that he was indeed wearing a school uniform. The Vehicon then grabbed him and dragged him away.

* * *

A few yards away at a local school, Aang was thrown into a classroom by the Vehicon, only to see a class of children looking at him, and Blitzwing behind the desk.

'They made them teachers now!?' Aang thought. Blitzwing looked down at Aang, not ammused.

"Let me guess, a new mind ready for molding?" Blitzwing asked as he crossed his arms.

"Yes sir," the Vehicon replied.

"Uh, that's right!" Aang added, hiding his fear inside him. "Let the molding begin!" Blitzwing just glared down at him. Something was off about this one. He didn't act like other Fire Nation children.

"You don't seem to be from here..." Blitzwing said, which shocked Aang, thinking his cover was blown. Blitzwing then walked around him, still observing him before he reached a conclusion.

"You look like someone from the colonies," Blitzwing concluded, much to Aang's relief.

"Y-yeah, the colonies! Uh, of course, the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom!" Aang replied to the triple-changer.

"Well, that would explain a lot, but here, we bow before our Decepticon allies," Blitzwing said. Aang responded by bowing, but Blitzwing just glared at him more. Aang was confused at this until a girl across from Aang motioned that he was bowing the wrong way. Aang quickly catches on and bows the right way.

"Much better," Blitzwing said before returning to the desk. "So, what is your name?"

"Uh, Kuzon," Aang answered, using his friend's name to cover himself up.

"Well 'Kuzon,' seeing as though you're new here, let me explain why I am here," Blitzwing said. "Per Lord Megatron's request, I, as well as some of the Vehicons here, have been given the task of explaining Decepticon technology to you fleshlings, as well as teaching you how to use them, so that one day you may become much more advanced soldiers for your Nation. Wheather or not you blow yourselves up in the process, I don't care. One less insuficiant soldier for this army." Aang listened to all of this, shocked at Megatron's and Blitzwing's total disregard for human children.

* * *

Soon the bell rang and class was dismissed. As the children rushed out of the building, Aang looked into his shirt to talk to Momo.

"This is awful Momo!" Aang said quietly. "Ozai and the Decepticons are forcing children to become soldiers and use their technology without ANY regard for their safety! We have to tell the others!"

"Don't let the headmaster catch you with that monkey," said someone from behind Aang. Aang quickly hid Momo as a reaction as he turned to see the girl from earlier who corrected his bowing technique.

"What monkey?" Aang asked while trying to play innocent again.

"Don't worry, I'm not a tattletale," the girl responded. "My name's On Ji. I like your headband by the way." Aang smiled slightly at On Ji's compliment before a taller male student bumps Aang while walking past him, then walks to On Ji and puts a hand around her shoulders.

"On Ji, you don't have to baby-sit the new kid," the generic school bully remarked.

"Wow, you must be one of those popular kids I've been hearing about," Aang said while bowing slightly.

"That's right," the student replied. "Now listen, friend, I know you're from the colonies, so I'll say this slowly." With that, he walked up to Aang and poked his chest.

"On Ji, is, my girlfriend," he said slowly. "Don't forget it." He then spots a bulge in his shirt, clearly showing Momo wants out, but the boy just shrugs it off as nothing, but not before signifying that he's watching him, and left with On Ji.

"It was nice meeting you," Aang said as he waved to them before another student approaches him.

"I don't believe it," he said. "He didn't beat you up. Not even a little!"

"I guess I'm just lucky," Aang responded.

"We were on our way to play hide and explode, you wanna come?" the boy asked.

"Uh, sounds fun, but I need to head back home," Aang answered, remembering what was going on here as he rushed back to the cave.

* * *

Back at the cave, the rest of the Gaang and the Autobots were worried sick. They haven't seen Aang since he left to find some food.

"Do you think they caught him?" Breakaway asked.

"I think we would know if they caught him Breakaway," Sokka answered.

"Yeah, Twinkletoes doesn't go down without a fight," Toph remarked. Then they heard someone skidding down the roof and saw Aang land to the ground outside.

"Where have you been!?" Katara asked, demanding answers. "We've been worried sick!"

"Sorry, it's just that after school I-" Aang started when the rest of the Gaang, especially Sokka, exclaimed their shock when Aang said 'school.'

"AFTER WHAT!?" Sokka asked.

"I kinda accidently enroled in a Fire Nation school, but I need to go back," Aang answered, which only shocked Sokka more.

"Enroled in WHAT!?" he asked.

"I found something horrible is happening," Aang said while lowering his head. "The Decepticons are teaching Fire Nation children how to use their weapons and technology to become future soldiers, and with no regard for their safety." The children and the Autobots' eyes widened in absolute shock.

"That's awful!" Katara exclaimed.

"I knew the Cons were evil, but this is just plain vile," Ironhide added.

"(They've gone too far this time, we have to stop these dispicible actions,)" Bumbblebee beeped.

"But how?" Katara asked. "If we act too quickly, it might blow our cover,"

"Maybe we could have Aang go there after school, then make the weapons defunct, and Ozai would have no need for this anymore," Warpath suggested.

"It's too risky Warpath," Katara answered.

"But it might be our only choice," Sokka added. "We have to convince Ozai that children can't create, let alone use these weapons." With that, everyone huddled together to further discuss this plan.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Fire Nation, Zuko had successfully infiltrated the capital city prison and started walking to his uncle's cell when the guard from his last attempt noticed and raised his staff.

"You again!?" he exclaimed. "Stop where you are!" Then Zuko raised his head and the guard saw exactly who he was, backing away in fear and confusion.

"Prince Zuko?" he asked. Suddenly, Zuko grabbed him and pinned him to the wall.

"I'm going in for a visit, you're gonna stay and guard here, and NO ONE is going to know about this," he ordered as he dropped the guard and continued to his uncle's cell.

* * *

Inside his cell, Iroh merely sat down and looked down to the ground, thoughts of betrayal running through his head, when Zuko opened the door and approached the iron bars that separated him from his uncle.

"Uncle, it's me," Zuko said as he lowered the hood on his robe. Iroh merely turned to face the wall, not wanting to see his nephew, who betrayed him at Ba Sing Se, then looked down to the ground and glared slightly.

* * *

While that was going on, the bounty hunter Zuko hired was walking through the Fire Nation with an eagle on his shoulder, searching for his target when a laser blast suddenly hit the eagle, killing it instantly. Slightly shocked, the bounty hunter turned to see Dreadwing, holding his cannon.

"Your services are no longer required bounty hunter," he coldly said. The bounty hunter then inhaled and fired a blast from his third eye at Dreadwing which hit him dead on, but barely hurt him. The bounty hunter was astonished that his attack barely hurt this thing as he attempted to retreat when Dreadwing blasted his metal arm and leg off, causing the hunter to fall to the ground. Dreadwing then stepped over to him and placed a bomb on his back, then transformed into a jet and flew off before the bomb exploded, killing the hunter and destroying everything in a half mile radius.

"No one shall stand in the way of my revenge!" Dreadwing declared as he blasted into the horizon, searching for his target.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

**SORRY I WENT ON A BIT OF A HIATUS, MY REAL LIFE WAS GETTING IN THE WAY, PLUS THIS WAS A HARD CHAPTER TO WRITE, BUT I DECIDED TO TRY AND FINISH THIS IN TIME FOR TRANSFORMERS DAY. (for those who don't know, today, May 8th, is the Transformers' 29th birthday) HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT.**


	11. Infiltration

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon.**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 11: Infiltration

* * *

In the Gaang's hideout in the cave, the children and the Autobots were going over the plan to infiltrate the school and disable the weapons the Decepticons have forced Fire Nation kids to create.

"Alright, so here's how it's gonna go," Ironhide said while handing Aang a small comlink. "Aang will infiltrate the school after class has been dismissed. Once the coast is clear, he'll then find and enter the weapons storage area. We'll guide him in disabling the weapons through the comlink I gave him."

"What's a comlink?" Sokka asked.

"Back on Cybertron, we used these to communicate through long distances," Ironhide answered.

"So instead of using a messenger bird, you guys just speak into that thing?" Toph asked.

"Correct Toph," Ironhide answered.

"I don't know about this," Katara said. "We could risk getting caught by the Fire Nation and the Cons."

"Katara, those Fire Nation children are in danger of getting themselves killed," Aang responded. "As the Avatar, it's my job to keep this world safe." Katara thought about Aang's statement before coming to a conclusion.

"Alright, let's do this," she said. "But be careful Aang."

"Don't worry Katara, what's the worst that can happen?" Aang asked.

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, a hooded Zuko was standing before the bars that seperated him from the prison cell of his uncle Iroh, who was still facing away from his nephew.

"You brought this on yourself you know?" Zuko asked. "We could have returned together. You could have been a hero!" Iroh did not respond to Zuko's statements and simply turned slightly further away from him, still not wanting to speak with him.

"You have no right to judge me Uncle!" Zuko responded. "I did what I had to do in Ba Sing Se, and your're a fool for not joining me!" Again, Iroh did not respond.

"You're not going to say anything!?" Zuko asked before kicking a metal stool upward in frustration, then using a fire punch to blast it to pieces. "You're a crazy old man! You're crazy! And if you wern't in jail, you'd be sleeping in a gutter!" With that, Zuko stormed off and slammed the door shut while Iroh looked down, hut by what his nephew had just said.

* * *

The next morning, Aang attended Blitzwing's class as scheduled in order to not cause any suspision among him. When Blitzwing entered the room, every student except Aang stood up. Aang quickly caught on to this and stood as well.

"Alright, as required by this slagging nation, you are required to recite the Fire Nation oath," Blitzwing explained, clearly not a fan of these Earth customs. Then each student turned to a painting of Fire Lord Ozai and bowed to it, except Aang of course, who caught onto it later and quickly copied their movements. The students then recited the oath, except, once again, Aang.

"My life I give to my country, with my hands I fight for Fire Lord Ozai and our forefathers before him," the class said.

"...Fire Lord...forefathers," Aang said as he tried to catch on.

"With my mind I seek ways to better my country, and with my feet may our March of Civilization continue," the class continued.

"Firebenders...Fire Lord...wah blah blah blah," Aang said at the same time which caused the class to snicker as they sat down. Blitzwing on the other hand rubbed his optics with his fingers, clearly annoyed.

"This is going to be a LONG day, isn't it?" he asked to himself.

* * *

Eventually, the school day ended, and most of the children rushed out, except Aang, who sneeked back inside once he believed the coast was clear, however, On Ji's boyfriend spots him and starts to follow him.

"Alright, I'm in," Aang said to the comlink.

"Good, now make your way to the weapons storage room," Ironhide responded through the comlink. It took a while, but soon Aang did find a door that said 'Cybertronian Weapons Storage.' Aang opened the door to see hundreds of Cybertronian weapons inside.

"Whoa..." Aang said, in shock at the weapons' technological superiority.

"Alright, now we nee-" Ironhide could not finish when a fire blast nearly hit Aang. He turned to see On Ji's boyfriend standing there with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Busted," he remarked.

* * *

Later that day, Aang was ordered by the headmaster of the school to attend a meeting with his parents. Of course the problem was that Aang did not have any. Fortunately, Sokka and Katara were willing to disguise themselves as his parents and met up with Aang in the headmaster's office where two Vehicons were there standing beside him, guarding him.

"Thank you for coming Mr and Mrs..." the headmaster begun when Sokka responded trying to impersonate a middle aged man.

"Fire, Wang Fire," he responded before pointing to Katara. "This is my wife, Saphire."

"Saphire Fire, nice to meet you," Katara added. The Vehicons just looked to each other and shrugged.

"Mr and Mrs...Fire, your son has been enrolled here for two days and he's already causing problems," The headmaster claimed. "He's mocked our anthem, disrupted music class, and has been found sneeking into our weapons storage room."

"My goodness!" Katara responded, trying to act shocked. "That doesn't sound like our Kuzon."

"That's what any mother would say Ma'am," the headmaster responded. "Nonetheless, you're forewarned; if he acts up one more time, I'll have him sent to reform school...by which I mean the mines. Are we clear?"

"Don't you worry Mr Headmaster, I'll straighten this boy out somethin' fierce!" Sokka answered before turning to Aang and shouting in a fairly over the top way: "**YOUNG MAN AS SOON AS WE GET HOME YOU'RE GONNA GET THE PUNISHMENT OF A LIFETIME!**" which visibly alarmed Aang, Katara, even the two Vehicons.

"That's what I like to hear," the headmaster responded before Aang, Sokka and Katara got up and left.

"Something's very odd about Wang," one of the Vehicons said to the other.

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, Zuko and Mai were sitting on a cliff side together, watching the sunset.

"Orange is suck an awful color," Mai remarked, which caused Zuko to snicker.

"You're so beautiful when you hate the world," Zuko said to his girlfriend.

"I don't hate you," Mai replied.

"I don't hate you too," Zuko responded before the two of them pulled into a kiss, which seconds later, is interrupted by Azula clearing her throat. The lovers then turn to her, clearly annoyed.

"Zuko, could I have a word with you?" Azula asked her brother.

"Can't you see we're busy?" Zuko answered before kissing Mai again. Azula then thought up a lie so that Mai could leave them.

"Oh Mai, Ty-Lee needs your help untangling her braid," Azula said. Mai believes it and stands up.

"Sounds pretty serious," Mai said before leaving, while throwing an angry glance at Azula behind her back.

"So, I've heard you've been to visit your uncle fatso in the prison tower," Azula said to Zuko, who stood up in anger.

"That guard told you!" he remarked.

"No, Buzzsaw did," Azula replied. "As did you, just now." Zuko simply admitted defeat, knowing he can't fight what he said, nor Buzzsaw's report, and sat back down.

"Okay, you caught me," he said. "What is it you want Azula?"

"Actually, nothing," Azula answered. "Believe it or not, I'm looking out for you. If people find out you've been to see Uncle, they'll thing you're plotting with him. Just be careful Dum-Dum."

* * *

Back at the cave, the Gaang and the Bots met back to discuss what to do next.

"That was WAY too close," Katara exclaimed.

"What are we going to do now?" Aang asked.

"I don't know, security's been tightened up since the incident, so we can't just barge in there again," Breakaway answered.

"Unless," Warpath added. "We make a distraction!"

"But how are we going to make loud enough noise to get the guards out of the school?" Sokka answered. Just then, Aang thought of something.

"How about the all Fire Nation kids here for a secret dance party?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, then the guards will hear all the noise and come here!" Ironhide added.

"(Giving us a chance to infiltrate the school and disable the weapons!)" Bumblebee beeped.

"Alright, here's how it'll go," Aang began. "I'll go and invite all the children in the school while the rest of you decorate the cave. Then while the party's going on, the Bots will hide in the back of the cave and one of us and one of the Bots will take care of the weapons."

"I'm in," Toph said. "I can sense if anyone's coming so we can hide before they find us. You with me 'Hide?"

"I'm in," Ironhide responded.

* * *

Soon the Gaang prepared for the party. Toph earthbended a stage while Sokka placed and lighted candles.

"I can't believe we're having a dance party," Sokka said. "It seems so...silly."

"Don't think of it as a dance party, but as a cultural event celebrating the art of fancy footwork," Aang responded.

"They're coming!" Toph reported as she felt several kids approaching the cave. "Everyone stop bending!" The Gaang did just that while Aang tries to hide Appa and Toph runs to the back.

"Sorry buddy, you should probably wait out back with the Bots," Aang said, to which Appa grumbled in response. "I know, you got fancier feet than anybody. And six of 'em!"

* * *

Out in the back of the cave, Appa and Toph walked up to the four Bots.

"The party's starting," Toph reported. "Hide, you and me head for the school and wait for the guards to leave."

"Got it," Ironhide responded before he and Toph ran to the school.

* * *

Back in the cave, the party had officially begun. A group of students got up on the stage and started playing their instruments as the guests filter into the cave.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Flamey-o's!" Aang exclaimed as he jumped up onto the stage. "Yeah, this ought to get everybody moving." Much to his disappointment though, all of the students just stood shyly at the edge of the cave.

"Now what do we do?" one of the boys asked.

"This is when you start dancing," Aang answered.

"I don't think my parents want me dancing in a cave," another boy responded.

"Yeah! What if someone finds out!?" a panicking student exclaimed before running to the left.

"Oh boy..." Aang said. "Listen guys, dancing isn't something you think about. It's a form of self-expression that no one can ever take away from you."

"Maybe it was different in the Colonies Kuzon, but we don't do that here," the first boy responded.

"Sure you do, you have for generations!" Aang replied. "It just so happens that I know several classic Fire Nation dances." He then starts to demonstrate one for them.

"A hundred years ago, this was known as the Phoenix Flight," Aang explained, which gained a few 'Ooh's and 'Aah's from the students. Then Aang demonstrated another. "And this was the Camelephant Strut."

* * *

Over at the school, the guards and the Vehicons started to hear some loud music coming from far away.

"What the-" one of the guards remarked.

"I think it's coming from over there," one of the Vehicons said before the guards and Vehicons ran to where the noise was coming from. Seeing this as their que, Toph and Ironhide emerged from a bush and ran inside.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Fire Nation, Zuko returned to his uncle's cell, sliding food to him.

"I brought you some komodo chicken," he said. "I know you don't care for it, but I figure it beats prison food." Iroh did not turn to face his nephew, much like in Zuko's last visit.

"I admit it, I have everything I always wanted, but it's not how I thought it would be." Zuko said. "The truth is, I need your advice." He then grips the bars, desperately needing his uncle's wisdom.

"The Avatar is alive," Zuko claimed. "I KNOW he's out there, and I'm loosing my mind. Please Uncle, I'm so confused, I need your help." But much to his dismay, his uncle still did not respond.

"Forget it!" Zuko shouted. I'll solve it myself! Waste away in here and rot for all I care!" With that, he stormed off again while a tear slides down his uncle's face.

* * *

While that was going on, Toph and Ironhide had successfully infiltrated the school and were heading for the weapons storage room. The dark halls were illuminated by Ironhide's shoulder lights. Suddenly, Toph sensed something.

"Ironhide, something's coming," Toph said. With that, she and Ironhide hid in a hallway while a janitor cleaned the hallway.

"That was close," Ironhide remarked. However, he failed to see Blitzwing walking behind them, as well as spotting them.

"Intruders!" Blitzwing shouted as he readied his weapons for a showdown.

* * *

Back at the cave, Aang was still showing his dancing techniques when he went up to On Ji and offered his hand. She responded by blushing and accepting. Aang then pulls her to the middle of the cave and starts dancing with her.

"Wow, they look pretty good together," Sokka remarked.

"Eh, if that's what you like..." Katara responded, barely hiding her envy as she looks away.

"Yeah, that's it!" Aang said as he danced with On Ji. "That's the sound of happy feet!" Then the rest of the students got the idea and started dancing with them.

"Alright go with that! Everybody freestyle!" Aang proclaimed as the students kept dancing. (though not much dancing as it was trying to imitate a Transformer's transformation) Aang then ran over to Katara and offered his hand to her, inviting her to dance. She responded by looking away nervously.

"I don't Aang," she said. "These shoes aren't really for dancing and I-I'm not sure how to-"

"Take my hand," Aang said with a smile.

"Okay," Katara replied, smiling back as she takes his hand and the two start dancing.

* * *

Outside the cave, the headmaster, several guards and three Vehicons walked towards the enterance.

"It IS a dancing party!" the headmaster exclaimed before turning to On Ji's boyfriend. "You did the right thing by telling me Hide."

"Anytime headmaster sir," Hide replied while bowing to his superior.

* * *

Back at the school, Ironhide and Toph ran through the halls, dodging Blitzwing's laser blasts while Ironhide shot back from behind. The two of them turn and see the door to the weapons storage room.

"There it is!" Ironhide said to Toph as they quickly enter before Blitzwing could see them. The duo then barricade the door in hopes of keeping him out.

"That won't hold for long!" Toph exclaimed. "We need to disable these weapons now!"

"How am I going to do that in time unless-" Ironhide replied before spotting a box of Cybertronian mines. "Toph, I have an idea!"

Back at the hallway, Blitzwing walked through the hall, trying to find Ironhide and Toph.

"So, we're playing a human game now, huh?" he proclaimed. "Well allow me to introduce the Decepticon version: 'Hide and go Shriek!'" He then starts bashing the doors open one at a time before closing in on the weapons storage room.

"Game over!" he declared as he busted the door down, only to find nobody there and the windows open. Even worse, dozens of mines were beeping, seconds away from detonation. The sight of the latter caused Blitzwing's optics underneath his visor to widen.

"Scrap!" he exclaimed before the mines went off, the weapons destroyed, and Blitzwing sent flying backwards.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the party, the students seemed to be having a blast dancing to the Flamey-O's' music.

"This is incredible!" one of the students proclaimed. "It's like my inhibitions just disappear!" That was cut short however as he sees the headmaster enter the cave.

"Okay, they're back again," he said as everyone else stopped dancing.

"He's the one we want!" the headmaster declared to the guards and Vehicons as he pointed at Aang. "The boy with the headband!"

"Uh-oh," Aang said before running away through the crowd as the guards and Vehicons chase him. One of the soldiers spots someone with a headband and grabs him.

"Gotcha!" he declared, but sees a different boy there and is instantly confused.

"Looking for me?" the boy asked.

"That's not the one!" the headmaster exclaimed. "He's here somewhere. Don't let him leave the cave!" Then a Vehicon spots someone with the headband, but sees a female student there instead.

"Yes?" she asked. Then they looked around and saw more and more students wearing the same headband. The headmaster then goes after who he thinks is Aang, shoving the students away, but again, it was someone else.

"Looking for someone?" the student asked. The headmaster looked around in horror as every child were wearing headbands. Meanwhile, Aang, Katara and Sokka had made it to the back and Aang earthbends the back shut, which caused one of the student's jaw to drop in astonishment.

* * *

In the back of the cave, Ironhide and Toph were running to the group.

"We gotta go, now!" Ironhide declared as the Gaang gets on Appa and flies off with Breakaway and Warpath flying beside him while Bumblebee and Ironhide transformed and rolled out.

* * *

Back at the Cons lair, Megatron, who had been given the news as to what happened, was less than enthused as he stomped on Blitzwing's head.

"Is there NOTHING that will give me the advantage I need against the Autobots!?" Megatron roared before Knock Out came in.

"Lord Megatron, a Vehicon back on Cybertron has reported back," Knock Out reported. Megatron then stopped beating Blitzwing and truned to Knock Out.

"For his sake and your sake Knock Out, I hope it's something of importance," he said.

"Actually, he didn't find something, he found someONE," Knock Out said as he moved away from the entrance to the lair. Then, rumbling footsteps could be heard as out of the darkness emerged a giant, dark purple Decepticon who's emotionless face only consisted of one glowing red eye and who's left arm was nothing more than a giant cannon. Megatron's optics widened in shock, for he knew who this Decepticon was.

"Shockwave..." he said before starting to chuckle evily. "Just the tactical advantage I need."

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*

* * *

**THIS WAS A FAIRLY HARD CHAPTER TO WRITE, MAINLY BECAUSE I JUST DO NOT LIKE THE EPISODE THE HEADBAND, BUT I TRIED MY BEST, AND I HOPE YOU LIKE IT.**


	12. All Across the World

**I KNOW IT'S BEEN A WHILE, BUT A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE (WHO'S NAME HE'D PREFER THAT I DON'T SAY) MESSAGED ME AND SAID THAT HE WANTED TO WRITE CHAPTER 12, AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU, HERE IT IS (WITH THE ADDITION OF SOMETHING I WROTE TOWARDS THE END). OH, AND AS ALWAYS, TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON.**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 12: All across the world

* * *

The Fire Nation royal family silently entered the war room, which was now filled with mightiest generals the country had to offer. It had been a long time since Zuko had been inside this chamber and a part him was uneasy setting foot in here after what had happened all those years ago. He glanced over to his sister who had Ravage at her side who was currently was growling and snapping at the old men as they walked by them.

"This war council is now in session." Ozai began as he and his children sat in front the table surrounded by the military leaders.

The generals sat down in their seats once their leader and his children had done so and prepared to discuss the new tactics and weapons to use in what they considered the final days in the war, however before anyone could say a word, a voice cut in.

"Farther, may I suggest we wait for Megatron to arrive before we begin?" Azula began as she gently petted her robotic guardian's head "Since the Decepticons are our allies, perhaps it would be in our best interest to let them in on our battle plans."

"With all due respect princess Azula," one of the generals spoke up "This a Fire Nation matter, not a-"

"I believe I was speaking to my father General Cho, not you!" the princess venomously cut off while Ravage snarled at the man.

Zuko glared at his sibling, but stayed silent. He knew that most of the officers in the military secretly did not approve of the alliance with the Decepticons for various reasons. Some thought that the Fire Lord was depending too much on the aliens weapons and soldiers rather than his own officers while others (as well as Zuko) had the sneaking suspicion that these machines from another world had ulterior motives for the working with the Fire Nation. As much as he wanted to speak out against the Decepticons, he couldn't forget what happened the last time he did that.

"My daughter is right general, we will wait for Megatron," Ozai added.

"Then you will wait no longer," a low voice spoke.

The Fire Nation officials collectively turned to see the leader of Decepticons enter the war room with Starscream and Soundwave at each of his sides. The generals all glared at the robots, but bowed to their unwanted allies in respect.

"Now we can begin," Ozai said "What do you have to report Megatron?"

"We preparing to send Knock Out and a platoon of Vechicons to Ba Sing Se via Ground Bridge in order to start construction on the energon mines," Megatron replied.

"I still don't understand why we need to pour large sums of money into a little scavenger hunt for glowing rocks," General Cho harshly commented "It's a pointless waste of-"

His words were again cut short, only this time he became quiet when the former gladiator of Kaon aimed him fusion cannon directly in his face.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing General," the tyrant growled menacingly, making both Azula and Starscream snicker at the terrified expression on the old man's face.

"Do you have anything else to add?" Ozai inquired, ignoring the generals predicament.

"Just one more thing," Megatron responded as he turned his attention back to the Fire Lord.

With that, he and his two warriors stepped aside to allow a fourth Decepticon to enter the war room. This newcomer was a large, heavily armored solider with a dark purple coloring on his body with a single unblinking eye that took up his entire his head and his entire right arm was a cannon. The very sight of him made even Ozai and Azula feel a chill run down their backs.

"Allow me to introduce Shockwave," the leader of the Decepticons said to the slightly scared humans in the room.

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Everyone in the room was still in fear and awe of the metal warrior that stood before them, that was until the cold-blooded princess decided to speak to the Cybertronian cyclops.

"Who exactly are you?" Azula questioned.

"I am the head of the Decepticon science division," Shockwave answered in a cold emotionless tone "I am in charge of all scientific advancements for Decepticon warfare, whether they be technological or biological."

"And what advancements could you give to the Fire Nation?" the Fire Lord added on.

"Lord Megatron has informed me of your species ability to control the four basic elements," Shockwave replied "I believe I can enhance your soldiers 'fire bending' as you call it to a higher level."

Upon hearing that, Ozai and his daughter were intrigued while his son and war council were apprehensive by what Shockwave was suggesting.

"I will require test subjects for these experiments and an area where I can work in private," the science officer continued.

"Would it matter where your test subjects come from?" Azula asked.

"My only requirement is that the test subjects be benders," Shockwave explained "I do not care where they come from."

"But where can we find a large amount of people for these tests?" Ozai thought aloud before turning to his son "What do you think Zuko?"

"Yes brother, what do you think?" his sister commented in almost sickeningly sweet tone.

Zuko was on put on the spot and didn't know what to say, he knew that what Shockwave was going to do to enhance Fire Nation soldiers it would leave a countless number dead and the results might be even more horrifying, but his fear of once again losing favor with his father overwhelmed him.

"If I may make a suggestion," Megatron spoke up, making Zuko feel in inward sense of relief "Why not use Fire Nation prisoners? I'm sure you have hundreds of traitors to your country locked up, surly there would be more enough for Shockwave's experiments."

"Perhaps he can use the prisoners in kept the tower outside of the capitol," Starscream mentioned to Ozai.

"That would be sufficient," the Cybertronian scientist said.

Zuko's eyes widened in shock at those words, not only was he scared for the some of the innocent that were imprisoned, but he also feared the thought his uncle being on Shockwave's list of test subjects. He had to think of something fast in order to save his uncle's life from being subjected to whatever the Decepticon had planned for him.

"No!" the young firebender objected.

"Oh? And why not prince Zuko?" his father asked sharply.

"Because..." the Fire Nation prince began not knowing where he was going with this "they don't deserve this kind honor bestowed upon them!"

"That reasoning is illogical," Shockwave coldly responded.

"No, my brother is right," Azula defended.

The princess's elder sibling was stunned by this gesture. She knew that he had been visiting uncle and could have simply exposed him right then and there before everyone.

'What is she playing at now?' he thought to himself.

"What my brother means is that those traitors in the tower are unworthy to help bring the Fire Nation to a greater glory. Whether the die in the test's or not, a death like that is to good for them."

"My children do have a point," Ozai said.

"Very well, are there other prisons I can use?" the scientist replied.

"What about the Boiling Rock?" one of the generals inquired. "It's filled with the unwanted masses and it's secluded."

"Is that acceptable?" the Fire Lord asked.

"Indeed," Shockwave said "I will begin my research once I collect the proper tools for my work."

And with that the robotic cyclops and departed from the war room without saying another word. Leaving the remaining Decepticons to give their advice on how they could improve on the general's strategies with Cybertroian power.

* * *

After the meeting, the Decepticons returned to their underground base to see off Knock Out before he and his troops left for Ba Sing Se.

"I swear I will not fail you my liege," Knock Out said to his master.

"See that you don't" Megatron warned

The medic nodded nervously in response before stepping through the Ground Bridge along with his Vechicons, after they had left the Decepticons second in command wanted to have a few words with his leader in the decisions of allowing Knockout and not him to govern over the Earth Kingdom city.

"I still don't understand why you allowed him to rule over the city instead of me my lord," the seeker questioned

"You couldn't lead androids to a picnic Starscream," Megatron replied darkly "What makes you think I'd ever allow you leadership of an entire city?"

"But-"

"Silence!" the lord of Decepticons snapped at his second in command as he smacked Starscream across the face with a strong backhand "I've worked too hard to keep this alliance going just let it fall apart by the likes of own your impotence!"

The seeker attempted to pick himself up off of the ground after being hit, only to be stomped on by his master.

"Am I clear?" the former gladiator hissed.

"Y-yes master!" Starscream wheezed out.

Megatron removed his foot from his second in commands person, allowing the silver-tongued Decepticon to pick himself up off of the ground, at that same time Azula entered the base with Ravage still at her side.

"Keeping the troops in line I see?" she said as she watched Starscream stagger off.

"Is there something on your mind princess?" Megatron asked, cutting right to the chase.

"Dreadwing still has not found the Avatar and his friends," she answered sharply "and my patience is wearing thin."

"Rest assured Deadwing will find them, he has yet to fail me," the metal tyrant assured before narrowing his eyes on a certain seeker "unlike some of my OTHER warriors."

"Very well Megatron, if you put that much trust in him I will wait a little longer," the master of the blue flame agreed.

"Our search for that child would be easier if you told your father that he was still alive," the second in command coldly snarled

"You clearly don't know my father that well Starscream," Azula responded in an equally cold tone as his "If I told my father that the Avatar was still alive then not only would I be banished, but also this alliance would end as well and you still need a lot of energon before you can return to your planet; energon, might I add, you need our workers to mine for you."

Starscream glared daggers at the child who was now giving him a sly yet victorious smile, as much as he hated to admit it, this human was right; that alliance between the Fire Nation and the Decepticons needed to last at least long enough for them to stockpile enough energon to make a return trip to Cybertron. The seeker let out an annoyed sigh before turning away from the princess and his master and walked away deeper into the base.

'If I didn't need her for my plans I'd blow that little brat into scarp!' he angrily thought.

"Finding the Avatar will not be enough to win this war, we will need to eliminate Optimus Prime was well," Megatron spoke, continuing their conversation.

"Why should that matter?" Azula said, not caring for need to kill Prime "How could the likes of Prime be a threat to us?"

"You fail to see the big picture princess," the warlord explained. "Even if we kill the Avatar, Optimus can be as much of a symbol of hope to those fools as the Avatar was and can rally both the Autobots and the other nations together to overwhelm our combined forces."

"I see, then we will just have to order Dreadwing to kill them both when he finds them," the Fire Nation princess retorted.

"If I know Prime, then he is no longer traveling with the Avatar and his friends," Megatron said "He knows that it is no longer safe to travel in a large group and has probably split up with them, but not before leaving a few of his own soldiers with the children to help them,"

"Then what should our next move be?" the cold hearted girl asked.

"Prime will no doubt attempt to try to gather whatever other Autobot forces that are scattered on this planet," the Decepticon leader suggested before turning to his communications officer who was tending to the space bridge console. "Soundwave, I have a task for you."

* * *

"Is it ready Ratchet?" Optimus asked his friend.

"Almost, but I can't say if it'll really work or not considering what kind of materials I had to work with," the Autobot medic answered.

For the past few weeks, Prime and his Autobots along with Hakoda and his men, had been traveling to the now fallen Earth Kingdom via the Fire Nation ship they stole. Since that time, Ratchet had been constructing a make-shift communications relay from a combination of spare parts from the ship and Cybertrioan tools, however even though Ratchet was a skilled mechanic as well as medic, it was still hard to say a weather or not they could even send one message out the other Autobots that where now standard on this world.

"Have a little faith buddy," Seaspray happily encouraged "It'll work just fine."

"So what's this thingy gonna do exactly?" The Duke asked bluntly.

"Well this 'thingy' as you call it will send out a short wave radio signal that will allow us to contact any other Autobots that are out there," Ratchet explained "Assuming of course everything turns out ok."

"So it's kinda like big a smoke signal," Pipsqueak reason as he played with one of Ratchet's tools before he broke it on accident, much to the Autobot medic's dismay. "Oops, my bad."

"Pipsqueak, I needed that!" the medic snapped at the human.

"This is quite an impressive piece of tech Optimus," Hakoda mentioned as he and Bato inspected the relay.

"It sure beats messenger hawks by a mile," Bato added

"Thank you Chief Hakoda, but this could all be for nothing if the relay cannot function," Prime replied before turning to his old friend "Switch it on Ratchet,"

With that order, the Autobot doctor pressed a few buttons on the communication relay's console which made the machine hum to life. As the Autobots took a sigh in relief, the humans could only gaze in wonder at this amazing sight.

"It's working, but I fear we may only have enough power for one message Optimus," he explained

The leader of the Autobots knew that the next few words he would say would have to count if they were ever to reach his lost soldiers; he pressed a button on the consol and spoke.

"This is Optimus Prime and I send this message to all Autobots that are lost on this planet, if you are hearing this then be warned; the Decepticons are on this world as well and intend on making it as much of a wasteland as they did ours, and with their alliance with the human faction known as the Fire Nation, their strength has greatly increased, but there is hope. We have allied ourselves with a group of humans who share our belief in freedom, and within a few weeks' time, an opportunity will come that will allow us to not only end this worlds war, but ours as well. I am sending you all these coordinates to a rendezvous point. If you cannot make there in time, then stay where you are and I swear we will find you. Remember my fellow Autobots, you are not alone."

On that note, the last of the Primes ended his speech just as the relay shut off.

"Do you think anyone heard that message?" The Duke inquired.

"We can only hope kid," Seaspray answered. "We can only hope..."

* * *

The Northern Air Temple

"There, that should about do it professor," the Autobot engineer known as "Wheeljack" said as he put on the finishing touches to the last of the auto-gun turrets what now surrounded the temple walls.

"Thank you my friend, with this new weapon system you and your colleague Preceptor have installed, we can keep the Fire Nation out of our home," the Mechanist happily thanked.

"It's the least we could do for giving us shelter here," Preceptor replied "My fellow Autobots and I are in your debut"

For the past few weeks the four Autobots known as Wheeljack, Preceptor, Inferno and Powerglide and been traveling this unknown world, searching for others who had been caught in the Space Bridge explosion, but to no avail did they find any of their brethren. One day on one of their searches, they came across a large temple that was under siege by a group of humans who had the ability to create fire and to their horror; a group of Vechicons were aiding these humans. At first Preceptor suggested that they avoid the situation and continue on their journey, seeing as how they were outnumbered, however Powerglide refused to abounded the people inside the temple and rush head first into the fray, with his comrades behind him despite the odds. Astonishingly, the rag-tag Autobots managed to beat back the forces and rescue the temple's occupants. At first the humans that they had saved were afraid of the machines, but then a young boy named Teo approached the heroes and befriended then, along with the rest of the people. Since then, the four refugees had found a home among the humans, and had been guarding their new home as well as give their human allies advancements in their technology.

"By the way, where is my son?" the professor wondered.

As if on cue, Powerglide rocketed over head of the scientists with the man's son within his cockpit.

"Nevermind..." he sighed.

"Yeah, this beats gliding by a longshot!" the inventor's son cheered.

"You ain't seen nothing yet kiddo!" the aerialbot said as he suddenly did a barrel roll.

"Careful Powerglide, he's just a boy!" Inferno strongly suggested as he watched them from the ground.

"Relax, he's fi-"Powerglide attempted to say before he was interrupted by an incoming transmission. "I-I don't believe it!"

"What is it, is something wrong?" Teo asked

The aerialbot didn't answer, instead he made immediate landing, help Teo out of the cockpit and transformed into his robot mode. Perplexed by their friend's actions, the other three Autobots rushed to his side.

"What's wrong?" Wheeljack inquired.

"You guy's ain't gonna believe this," Powerglide began "But I just got a message from Optimus!"

* * *

It never once crossed the Boulder's mind that during his time as a hero, he would face death, but now as he and his friend the Hippo where now surrounded by both Fire Nathion and Vechicon troops, that thought was running through his mind, and strangely enough he chuckled at the idea of dying on this day.

'At least we got those refugee's to safety,' he thought to himself as he stood his ground.

"This is your last chance, surrender or die," the captain of the soldiers ordered "No one is coming to save you"

"The Bolder and The Hippo don't need to call for backup," the former wrestler replied with a grin. "We'll call for cleanup!"

Suddenly the roar of an engine was heard, the soldiers turned to see what was making the noise, only to see a green truck speed toward them. The Fire Nation troops managed to jump out of the way, however the Vechicon's where not as quick and were knocked to their feet, allowing the two earth benders the chance to crush their heads with massive chucks of earth. The truck then transformed into a giant Autobot, who glared down at the fire benders, who took of screaming in fear. When they were out of sight the metal giant broke into a fit of laughter.

"Oh man, that was too good!" Bulkhead laughed out before turning to his human friends,"I gotta say, you two would make great Wreckers."

"The Bolder thanks you for your words Bulkhead," the Bolder answered.

Unlike most of the other Autobots who were stranded in groups, the Wrecker known as Bulkhead was left alone. Unable to get in contact with anyone else, he began his quest to find any other Autobots that were marooned on this planet. However he came across the two fighters turned heroes The Bolder and The Hippo, who had sworn to fight for justice rather than money, and together the trio set out to protect the innocent from Fire Nation and Decepticon alike.

"Hippo think he hear more coming," the less then intelligent earth bender said.

"Bring it on! I haven't smashed anything today!" the Wrecker added, making his fist into a wrecking ball.

The sound of engines grew loud quickly as the unknown vehicles drew closer to the three freedom fighters, however when the two vehicles where closer, Bulkhead instantly recognized the newcomers by not only their paint jobs, but also their symbols.

"No way..." he gasped "Tt can't be!"

"Who are they Bulkhead?" The Bolder wondered.

"They're other Autobots!" the massive robot exclaimed with joy. "And I know exactly who they are!"

The two cars stop in front of the trio before transforming into their robot forms to revel their identities to them.

"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker!" Bulkhead cheered.

"Bulkhead, is that you?" Sideswipe asked. "Oh thank the All Spark, you're the first Autobot we've seen in weeks!"

"Are you heading to the rendezvous point too?" his twin added.

"Rendezvous point? What are you talking about?" Bulkhead questioned, confused at Sunstreaker's statement.

"Didn't you get the message? Optimus is rounding up all of the lost Autobots for something big!" Sideswipe explained.

"Well what are we waiting for?" The Bolder commented. "Let's find this Optimus and take the fight to the Fire Nation!"

"I like your new friends Bulk," Sunstreaker joked as he and his brother changed back to their vehicle modes alongside Bulkhead.

* * *

"Should we go?" Cllifjumper asked his friends. "It sounds almost too good to be true if you ask me."

"But if it is true, then Optimus Prime needs us," Mirage replied.

"I agree with Mirage, I say we chance it," Jazz agreed before turning to his superior "What do you think Prowl, it's your call"

Ever since the Space Bridge accident, the four Autobots who went by the names of "Jazz," "Mirage," "Cliffjumper" and "Prowl" had been living in a small Earth Kingdome villag. Since that time the squad of warriors befriended the local villagers who they protected from the Fire Nation and their allies. Their closest friends were a boy named Haru and his father Tyro, both of whom were strong earth benders. Since Prime was no were to be found, the burdened of leadership fell to Prowl, who currently had no idea wheather to ignore the message they just received from Optimus in fear that maybe a trap set by the Decepticons, or risk and hopefully meet back up with their great leader.

"What if it is your leader Prowl? From the way you guys were describing how that message sounded, it sounds like he'll need everyone he can get," Haru reasoned.

The current commanding officers of the Autobots squad took in what his human friend has said and made his choice.

"Let's roll out!" he commanded to his team.

* * *

Within the vast swamp, a powerful war machine laid among the trees and vines like a sleeping titan. This machine was also a native of Cybertron, but unlike the other ones of his kind, this one chose to remain where he had landed. He had no reason or orders not to move from his spot, however today he had a reason to move once again as well as to fight. He had just received a message from his leader and was given the opportunity to destroy all who stood in his way once again. Just then, a small wooden boat gently approached the massive foot of the titanic warrior, who looked down upon the boats occupants: a trio of swamp benders.

"We'll look who decided to finally wake up," the swamp bender known as Tho said to the giant.

The massive Autobot knew of these humans. The trio had been visiting him ever since he arrived in their home. They would talk to him about what they caught for dinner or try to get him to talk to them, but he remained silent despite their prattling.

"Must've been real important to make you move," Due continued were his brother left off.

"Orders, given," the metal titan bellowed "I must go."

"Y'a mind if we tag along?" the third swamp bender known as Huu asked the giant. "You might need our help."

At first, the Autobot considered leaving them here, but then he figured that these tiny humans could get to places he could not and battle foes in tight spaces.

"Suggestion, accepted" he answered before in transformed into his jet mode and allowed the trio within him.

"Y'a know since y'er talking now, we all wanna know, what's y'er name?" Due questioned

"Designation, Omega Supreme."

* * *

Even though the scattered Autobots were preparing to gather together, not one of then knew that there were unwanted listeners who heard Prime's message as well.

"Excellent work Soundwave," Megatron told his officer. "Now we know where the Autobots are."

"I can mobilize our forces in under half an hour my lord," Starscream informed his master.

"That won't be necessary Starscream," the warlord replied "I'm allowing them to unite."

"But why master, we have their exact coordinates!" the seeker argued.

"Most of the Autobots that heard that message are already expecting that this is a trap and are prepared to fight," the Decepticon leader explained. "It would be a waste of soldiers. And besides, Azula, Shockwave and I have already planned out everything for the invasion. They will not survive what we have in store for them."

With that, Megatron let a powerful laugh as he thought all the ways he intended on crushing not only his long time enemy, but also what hope this world's people had left for good.

* * *

Later that night, Azula walked to a secluded location. Starscream had told her to meet her in these coordinates for something important he needed to discuss with her. Suddenly, the seeker emerged from the shadows.

"Alright, what is it you want Starscream?" the princess asked, wanting to cut to the chase.

"Sh! Be quiet! Soundwave could be listening to this conversation!" Starscream warned, which earned him a glare from Azula.

"Fine," Azula said bluntly, this time more quietly. "What do you want?"

"I have a proposition to make Princess," Starscream answered. "I have been Megatron's punching bag for too long! It is time for me to take action, and I have a feeling that you are just who I need to do so, and gain control of the Decepticons."

"Oh? And how exactly am I to do that?" Azula asked.

"It's simple really," the seeker answered. "During the invasion, once yours and Megatron's plan is unleashed to the enemy forces, you will lightning bend Megatron and all Decepticons close to him and put them all in a temporary stasis, except Megatron. Then, I will come in and do what I should have done millions of years ago!"

"But why should I?" Azula asked. "Megatron seems to be a fit leader, so why should I do something that would hinder our plans?"

"Because once we have crushed the Autobots and the other two nations, we shall not only hand control of this planet to the Fire Nation, but we shall leave with you some of our advanced technology, so that any who dare to oppose you shall be crushed!"

Azula took this plan into consideration for a few seconds. It is risky, but Megatron never said anything about leaving some of their technology here on this planet.

"Very well Starscream, I will assist you in your plan," Azula finally said.

Upon hearing her answer, Starscream couldn't help but grin and snicker in a sinister manner.

'Megatron, your fate has just been sealed,' the seeker thought to himself before turning his snicker into a full blown maniacal laugh.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME


	13. The Painted Lady

**MAN I'M QUICK TODAY! TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY! DISCLAIMER: TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 13: The Painted Lady

* * *

In a sludge infested river in the Fire Nation, the Gaang and the Bots trailed through the polluted water. Sokka, was fishing on Appa's saddle while Aang, who was in the putrid water, was playing hide-and-go-seek with Momo.

"Momo!" Aang said as he shot out of the sludge before going back under. Momo flew to where he heard Aang call his name, only to find no one there. Suddenly, Aang shot up behind Momo.

"Oh Momo!" he called before going back under. Momo once again flew to where he heard Aang when Aang shot up from where Momo already was, only for Momo to fly up to him, surprising Aang.

"You found me buddy!" Aang said while chuckling, but then he looks down at the water and finally seems to realize the horrid condition it was in before airjumping back to Appa's saddle.

"Hey guys, I think this river's poluted," he said to his friends before bending the goop off him, sliming the rest in the process. Even Toph thought it was disgusting. Seeing this, Aang uses his airbending to blast the sludge off and clean his friends.

"Well that explains why I can't catch a fish around here," Sokka added. "Becasue normally my fishing skills are 'Off the hook!' Get it!? Like a fishing hook?" The joke obviously flooped seeing as though even Warpath didn't even chuckle at that.

"Too bad your fishing skills arn't ON the hook," Toph remarked, this time getting everyone to laugh, except Sokka, who scowled in response.

"It looks like we'll need to go somewhere else to get food," Katara claimed before Sokka unrolled a long scroll of paper in front of her. "Assuming that'll fit into Sokka's 'master' schedule.

"Hmmm, it's doable," Sokka said while observing the schedule. "But that means only two potty breaks today."

"Maybe you can get some food over there," Ironhide said, pointing to a small village, just down the river.

* * *

They obviously needed to hide Appa and Momo, so they first stopped in a secluded area and hid Appa and Momo each under patches of grass.

"Now you'll look just like a little hill with horns! Bye buddy!" Aang remarked to his pet sky bison after covering him. Appa grumbled in response as Aang left to join the others.

"I don't feel anything, where's this village?" Toph said as they looked upon the village from a cliffside.

"Looks like it's in the middle of the river," Breakaway answered.

"Sure is!" replied an old man under the Gaang on a boat in the river. "My name's Dock. Mind if I ask who you are?"

"We're, um, from the Earth Kingdom colonies," Katara answered.

"And we're a group of Cons that are trying to get to the Fire Nation," Ironhide added. "My name's Barricade."

"I'm Demolisher," Warpath said.

"I'm Ramjet," Breakaway said.

"And this is Wasp," Ironhide said while pointing to Bumblebee, who obviously couldn't speak to tell Dock his codename.

"Then hop on!" Dock said. "I'll give you a ride into town."

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Once the Gaang was on the boat, Dock rowwed through the river while the Autobots walked beside the boat.

"So, why do you live on the river?" Ironhide asked.

"Because we're a fishing town," Dock answered. "At least, that's how it was before the mining facility moved in." Everybody looked to their right to see an ominous building, visible through the gap in the cliffs, and bearing a symbol that appeared to be a Decepticon insignia fused with the Fire Nation symbol.

"Use to be a factory where the Army make their metal til the Cons came around," Dock added. "It already gunked up our river from when it was a factory, but now it's making things even worse. Now our little village is struggling to survive."

"What exactly are they mining for?" Sokka asked.

"Some kinda substance the Cons call 'Energon,'" Dock answered, which immediately got the Bots' attention. They were about to say something when Dock pulled into town and everyone got off.

"Thanks for the ride!" Aang said while waving goodbye to Dock before the Gaang headed out to explore. What they saw was anything but a pleasant sight. The twon was stricken with poverty and most of the inhabitants were either sick or dying. Katara and Bumblebee looked in absolute horror.

"Look at this place," Katara said. It's so sad. We have to do something to help." Sokka, however, objected.

"No, we can't waster our time here!" he exclaimed. We have a bigger mission that we need to stay focused on. These people are on their own."

"These people are starving, but you turn your back on them!?" Katara responded in shock. "How can you be so cold and heartless!?"

"I hate to say it Katara, but Sokka's right," Ironhide replied. "There are more important things we need to stay focused on."

"Besides, we'll be helping them all by taking out the Fire Lord!" Sokka exclaimed, though a little too loudly. Toph responded by slapping her hand over Sokka's mouth.

"Hey loudmouth! Maybe we should be a little quieter when we talk about taking out the Fire Lord," Toph remarked. Sokka got the message and talked a bit quieter.

"Come on Katara, be reasonable about this," Sokka said to his sister.

"(I don't know Sokka,)" Bumblebee replied. Sokka, who obviously couldn't understand what Bumblebee was saying, was handed Katara's translator so he could understand him.

"What do you mean B-I mean Wasp?" Sokka said, almost forgeting Bumblebee's codename.

"(When Dock said that the mine was for Energon, that instantly got me worried,)" Bumblebee said.

"Why? And for that matter, what IS Energon?" Sokka asked.

"Energon is the lifeblood of all Transformers, as well as our energy source for our technology," Ironhide answered.

"(And that's not all,)" Bumblebee added. "(There are many differant kinds of Energon. Dark Energon, Red Energon, and Tox-En just to name a few. Not only could ANY type give the Decepticons a huge advantage in the war, but it could poison the water to unbelievable measures. Imagine if they found Tox-En and it gets into the water. These people wouldn't survive two days!)"

"But we can't spend time here if we're going to get to the Fire Nation in time for the eclipse!" Sokka argued. "You all know our mission has to come first." Katara thought all of this through and reluctantly gave her answer.

"I guess so..." she says sadly.

"Let's just get what we need and go," Aang said before they walked off further into the town.

* * *

They approach a counter of an outdoor market stall, only to see, of all people, Dock, running the stand.

"Hey Dock, you work here too?" Sokka asked.

"I'm not Dock, I'm Xu." Do-or Xu, responded. "Dock's my brother." The Gaang and the Bots just looked at him, confused at his actions.

"But we just saw you," Aang argued.

"Yeah, you're even wearing the same clothes!" Warpath added. "Only difference is you're wearing some kind of hat!"

"Dock works on the docks, that's why they call him 'Dock,'" Xu replied. "And I work in the shop, that's why they call me 'Xu.'"

"I don't get it," Aang responded.

"Me nether," Xu, for some reason replied before dropping to the floor and coming back up with a crate. "What can I get ya?" The Gaang looked into the crate to see that the crate was full of rancid sludge infested seafood.

"Hey, I'll give you a special deal," Xu added. "If you buy three fish, I'll throw in a clam for free." The Gaang looked down at the seafood, and even the Autobots were revolted at their condition. Sokka even pushed down on one of the clams and saw more sludge gush out of it. Everyone was disgusted, but they needed to eat, so they had no choice.

"We'll just take the fish," Sokka said as Xu took the fish from the crate. "Mind telling your brother we need a ride back to shore?" Xu replied by ducking under the counter again and reappearing without the hat and with the headgear that 'Dock' wore.

"Hey colonials, my brother says you need a lift," X-or Dock said, before hopping over the counter and walking to the docks. As they followed him, a young boy came up to Katara and pulled on her clothing.

"Can you spare some food?" he asked. Katara responded by kneeling to his level and giving him some of the fish.

"I wish I could help more," Katara said sadly as the kid took the fish and bowed to her before running up to a sick woman, persumably his mother. Katara looked upon the sight and almost cried, really wanting to do more to help this village. Bumblebee, who saw everything, looked down sadly, commending Katara's efforts and generosity, but sad that she couldn't do much else.

* * *

Back at the campsite up on the cliffs, Aang and Katara were busy bending the sludge out of their cooking water while Sokka ponders his schedule.

"Our detour into town today has completely thrown off our schedule," he said. "It's gonna take some serious finagling to get us back on track."

"Finagle away, O schedule master," Toph sarcastically remarked.

"Well, for starters, it looks like we'll need to wake up fourty-three minutes earlier every day," Sokka began, which obviously didn't gain the approval of the other kids.

"Fourty-three minutes?" Katara asked in disbelief.

"Look, we only have a few weeks to get to the Fire Lord in time for the invasion and the eclipse, which, by the way, only lasts for eight minutes, and we just lost a whole day," Sokka replied. "So if we want to make up the time and stay on schedule, we have to wake up early!"

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Warpath said, defending his friend.

"Easy for you to say Warpath, you don't sleep like we do!" Katara argued.

"Or we could just cut out all of our eating breaks," Sokka said.

"What!?" Aang exclaimed.

"No way!" Katara added.

"Forget it!" Toph said.

"I got it, how's this from now on, we'll take food breaks and potty breaks, at the same time," Sokka said, which earned the disgust of the Gaang. "Hey, it might be gross, but it's efficient. Either way, we have to leave here first thing tomorrow morning." With that, Sokka took the schedule and left to go over it some more while Katara can't get the starving people in the village out of her mind.

* * *

The next morning, Appa was lying on his side, groaning, while Katara went up to check on him. Everyone else heard Appa groaning and went up to see what was going on.

"(What's wrong Katara?)" Bumblebee asked.

"I think Appa's sick," Katara answered, much to the shock of Sokka.

"What!? Appa's sick!? That's awful!" he exclaimed.

"Wow Sokka, I didn't realize you cared so much," Toph remarked while rubbing her eyes.

"Of course I care!" Sokka replied, although he didn't really care for the right reason. "I might as well just throw away our schedule now!" The rest of the Gaang, even Warpath, glared at Sokka in response. Quickly realizing what he just said, he then ran up to Appa's side.

"AND I'm concerned because my big, furry friend doesn't feel well!" he added.

"He must have gotten sick from being in the polluted water," Toph suggested.

"Well that would explain things, but he doesn't look sick to me," Ironhide said.

"You okay buddy?" Aang asked his friend, while pulling his tongue out, revealing that it was purple.

"Okay, I might not know much about this planet's biology, but I know that that's suppose to be red," Breakaway said.

"(Think you can heal him Katara?)" Bumblebee asked as Katara went up to look at the sky bison's tongue.

"It looks like he needs some medicine," Katara answered. "Maybe we can find the right herbs in town."

* * *

The Gaang decided that that was a good idea as they walked back into town, however, the town was much more bustling and filled with life as opposed to depressing and hopeless.

"Is it just me, or does this place seem different?" Toph asked.

"Yeah, everyone seems, happier," Warpath added. They soon saw the boy from yesterday running by, bouncing a ball, while Katara smiled to herself. Then the Gaang walked up to the market stall where 'Xu' stood behind the counter.

"Hey, Xu, what's going on with everyone today?" Sokka asked while 'Xu' took a sip of...something.

"Ah, something amazing happened last night," 'Xu' answered. "Food was delivered to our village by a mysterious and wonderful person...the Painted Lady."

"The Painted who?" Breakaway asked.

"The Painted Lady," 'Xu' answered as he places a statue of a heavily draped lady wearing a large robe as well as a wide-brimmed conical hat and had painted syembols on her face, giving her a mysterious but gentle look. "She's part of our town's lore. They say she's a river spirit who watches over our town in times of need. I always thought she was just a legend. Until Now."

"See, we don't need to help these people, they already have someone to help them," Sokka claimed to his friends before turning back to 'Xu.' "All we need is medicine for our sick friend."

"Medicine?" 'Xu' asked. "Sorry, all the medicine we have goes to the mine. That's why there's so many people sick in our village.

"Looks like we need to stay another night so Appa can rest," Katara suggested. Sokka just sighed and hung his head down, realizing she was right.

"I guess you're right," he said before turning back to 'Xu.' "You got anymore food to sell?" 'Xu' responded by grabbing a sludge covered fish in each hand, but the one on his right hand was especially disgusting.

"Would you like the one-headed fish, or the two-headed fish?" he asked. Sure enough, one of the fishes had mutated a second head. Sokka mulled it over for a bit before deciding.

"Two-headed!" he answered, much to the shock and disgust of his friends. "What? You get more for your money that way!" It didn't help though that he held the disgusting mutated fish close to his friends, who groaned in disgust at it and ran away.

* * *

Later that night, a mysterious fog starts to aproach the town, and a figure that resembles Xu's statue starts to levetate towards the village, and closes into an infirmary, where several patients lied on the floor, sick beyond belief. The figure enters and walks to one of the patients, kneels down, and a glowing blue light illuminated the room. She continues to heal all that were in the building until she comes across the mother of the boy, who was sleeping next to his mother. Once the light had engulfed the room one more time, the figure stood up and turned to leave, not knowing that the boy had awakened and started to follow her.

"Thank you Painted Lady," the boy said to the figure. Startled, the figure stopped at the dock and nodded to acknowledge him before gliding away to the night.

* * *

The next day, Dock, not Xu, is polishing his Painted Lady statue with a rag as the Gaang stepped up to the counter.

"Hi Dock, is Xu around?" Sokka asked.

"Let me check," Dock replied as he tossed his rag aside and runs around the shop, whistling. He then ducked beneath the corner to switch his hat and ran back to the counter.

"Hey there!" 'Xu' said. "Back again are ya?" Before Sokka could say anything though, Toph pushed him aside to make sure they didn't get anymore two-headed fish.

"We need more food," Toph answered. "Our friend is still sick and we can't leave until he's better." Toph's attempt to get them more edible food didn't help much though as 'Xu' provided a platter of sludge filled clams.

"Oh, well, that's too bad," 'Xu' replied. "Maybe if you guys are lucky, the Painted Lady will visit you in the night, and heal your friend."

"Yeah, and maybe she'll cook you fleshies a midnight snack and you'll all have a fraggin sing-along!" Warpath sarcastically remarked. Breakaway then turned to Ironhide, confused at his behavior.

"We're disguised as Cons, don't you think we should look like Cons?" Ironhide whispered.

"You know, last night she visited us again," 'Xu' added. "Healed most of our sick folks.

"Is that why this place seems so festive?" Aang asked. Sure enough, there were townsfolk cheering when a Painted Lady statue was being put up in the center of the town.

"Yep, it's all because of the Painted Lady," 'Xu' replied.

"Can you believe how much an entire village can be affected by one lady, I mean...spirit?" Katara asked.

"Well, I hope she returns every night," Sokka said. "Otherwise this place would go right back to the way it was."

"Why would you say that?" she asked. "Look how much better these people are."

"Yeah, NOW, but with out her they wouldn't be able to fend for themselves," Sokka argued.

"Yeah, if she really wanted to help out, she would use her spirit mumbo-jumbo to blow up that mine," Warpath added before making an awkward gesture to indicate explosive spirit magic. "Oooooooo...kapowwe!"

"Spirit magic doesn't work that way Warpath," Aang replied. "It's more like-" He then does an elaborate dance to one-up Warpath. "Woooooo..." Katara's reaction was to walk off angrily as Sokka joins Warpath and Aang to ham it up.

"Wooooo..." The three of them went. Katara on the other hand walked off to the dock and looked upon the mine and all the damage that it had caused to this village.

* * *

Later that night at the campsite, Katara slipped out of her sleeping and stuffed dried grass into it, then dons a Painted Lady outfit, confirming that she was the one who was responsible for all the good deeds that the village people believed the Painted Lady was responsible for. She begins quietly gliding towards the village, but was unaware that she had awakened Bumblebee from stasis. He then sees Katara just before she slipped out of sight.

"(It's her!)" Bumblebee beeped as he started to run after her, grabbing Katara's translator in the process so he could communicate with who he assumed was the Painted Lady, however, she noticed Bumblebee running after her and starts to run away, but Bumblebee soon caught up to her and Katara, realising that she couldn't run faster than Bumblebee, stopped. Bumblebee then tossed her the translator and motioned her how to use it. Katara then activated it and Bumblebee began to speek.

"(My name's Bumblebee,)" he beeped. "(I apologize for bothering you, but I needed to speek to you.)"

"Well, hello Bumblebee," Katara answered in an obviously fake voice while attempting to hide her face. "I wish I could talk, but I am very busy." However, her attempt to hide her voice didn't succeed, as Bumblebee's optics widened when he recognized her voice.

"(Katara?)" he asked. Katara, admiting defeat, took off her hat and vail and looked down.

"Hi Bee," she said.

"(You're the Painted Lady?)" Bumblebee asked.

"I wasn't at first, I was just trying to help the village, but ever since everyone thought that's who I was anyway...I guess I just kind of became her," Katara answered.

"(Wait a minute, is Appa even sick?)" Bumblebee asked.

"He...might have been sick of the purple berries I've been feeding hum, but, other than that, he's fine," Katara answered.

"(So you've been lying to everyone so you could help these people?)" Bumblebee asked.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have," Katara began, feeling ashamed of her actions, only to be interrupted by an unexpected response from Bumblebee.

"(No no, I think that's wonderful,)" he beeped, much to Katara's surprise.

"Really Bee?" she asked before Bumblebee kneeled down to her level.

"(What you're doing here is an act of generosity of which I've never seen the likes of before,)" he answered which got Katara to smile slightly, not as ashamed of her actions as she was before.

"Well, if you want to help...there's one more thing I have to do," she said.

* * *

"(You want to destroy the mine?)" Bumblebee asked as the duo walked over to the mining facility, Bumblebee out of his 'Wasp' deco, and Katara in her Painted Lady outfit.

"I know Warpath was just kidding, but he was right," Katara answered. "Getting rid of this factory is the only way to help these people permanently. We don't know what the Energon, if they find any, could do to the water in the river, you said it yourself!" Bumblebee thought this over for a few seconds before deploying his wrist blasters.

"(It's risky, but you're right,)" he replied before the two of them ran into the mine.

* * *

The two of them started with the drills. Katara slashed them with her waterbending while Bumblebee blasted them to bits. Then Bumblebee placed a mine on a system of pipes that dumped the waste into the river and ran off before it blew up, destroying the pipes. Then Katara used her waterbending to have a flood of water crash through the windows and start to flood the mine. Finally, Katara bended some of the flamable liquids into the center of the mine and Bumblebee used his blasters to ignite it and destroy the support beams that held the mining facility together. The duo quickly ran away from the facility before it completely collapsed in on itself and the waste stopped flowing into the river's water.

* * *

Meanwhile at Ba Sing Se, the entire city, now under Knock Out's control, had been turned into a giant mining facility where earthbender slaves mined for Energon under the supervision of firebender guards and Vehicons. The conditions were horrific for the slaves, but 5-star quality for Knock Out as he lived in the former Earth King's palace. Said Decepticon was busy trying to detail himself, though finding it to be quite difficult.

"Nyg, mmph! Ugh! Detailing was so much easier when Breakdown was around!" Knock Out complained before he heard the door open, spooking him slightly and dropping the buffer, before furiously turning to the Vehicon that opened the door.

"WHAT!?" he shouted.

"Governor Knock Out, the mining platform on Jang Hui has been destroyed," the Vehicon reported. Knock Out's optics widened when hearing the news, surprised, and afraid of what Megatron will think when he hears this.

"Shall I force the villagers to build a new one sir?" the Vehicon asked.

"No, they've been far too much trouble," Knock Out answered. "First they steal the slaves' rations, then they steal the medicine, and now they blow up our facility! If we're going to mine for Energon there, first we must destroy the village."

"I'll assemble a strike team to-" the Vehicon started before he was interupted by Knock Out.

"No, I already have one in mind," he said before he turned to the left. "Scrapper!" On que, the Constructicon leader Scrapper, along with the other five Constructicons, "Long Haul," "Bonecrusher," "Hook," "Scavenger," and "Mixmaster," walked forward.

"We'll leave no trace of their existance," Scrapper replied.

* * *

The next morning, Bumblebee, back in his 'Wasp' deco and Katara very quietly went back to the campsite.

"We need to be quiet, we don't want to wake up Sokka," Katara explained. Little too late for that though since Sokka, Toph and Warpath were waiting there for the duo.

"Oh, Hi Sokka!" Katara said, trying to act innocent. We were just...out on a...morning walk!"

"Oh really?" Warpath asked, obviously not believing her. "A morning walk?" With that, Warpath dumped the dry grass from Katara's sleeping bag onto the ground, much to Katara and Bumblebee's dismay.

"I know you're the Painted Lady, I know you've been sneaking out at night, and I know you've been lying about Appa and feeding him purplizing tongue berries!" Sokka said, while Toph stuck out her now purple tongue and held a bag of berries as evidence. "Katara, what you did put our whole mission in jeopardy. We're leaving right now." With that, Katara, with her head down, sadly walked away.

"And how long have YOU known about this?" Warpath asked Bumblebee.

"(In all fairness I only found out last night,)" Bumblebee answered. Just then, an explosion was heard in the distance. The Gaang all went to a cliff to see the Constructicons attacking the city.

"Constructicons!" Ironhide exclaimed in shock.

"What's going on?" Toph asked.

"A group of very dangerous Decepticons known as the Constructicons are blowing the city to bits!" Ironhide answered.

"What did you do!?" Sokka asked Katara angrily.

"I...kind of destroyed the mining facility," Katara answered in guilt.

"YOU WHAT!?" Warpath exclaimed.

"It was your idea!" Katara argued.

"Hey, I was joking! What part of those funny noises didn't you get!?" Warpath asked while Sokka face palmed himself.

"Did you even think this through!?" Sokka asked Katara. "The Constructicons' gonna blame the villagers!"

"Well, what was I suppose to do?" Katara asked.

"Leave! Do nothing!" Sokka answered. To Katara, that was the final straw. She had had it with Sokka's selfish remarks.

"No! I will never, EVER turn my back on people who need me!" she retaliated before getting up to leave. "I'm going down to the village, and I am gonna do whatever I can." As she started to leave, Sokka contemplated this to himself before getting up and following him.

"Wait, I'm coming too," he said.

"I though you didn't want to help," Katara replied while turning to face her brother.

"You need me, and I will never turn my back on you," Sokka responded.

"Sokka...you really DO care," Katara said before hugging her brother.

"He really does have a heart, doesn't he?" Aang asked while in tears before turning to Toph for her remark. The answer: Toph socking him in the chest and Aang falling to the ground.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the village, the Constructicons were tearing apart everything they saw. Bonecrusher was in his bulldozer mode tearing down houses, Mixmaster was going ballistic, shooting everything that moved, and the others were busy knocking down buildings except Scrapper, who was addressing the villagers.

"I don't know how you fleshlings destroyed our mining facility, but somehow you did, on top of stealing food and medicine, and now you're all gonna pay," he said to the crowd.

"We didn't do any of that," Dock said while popping out into the crowd before popping out in a different place as Xu. "Yeah, the Painted Lady brought us food. She's the one who healed us, not your medicine."

"Oh, right, the mysterious 'Painted Lady' did it," Bonecrusher replied while turning into his robot mode and knocking over the statue in the middle of the city.

"So, where's your Painted Lady now?" Scrapper asked the villagers, before firing his blaster at a house, destroying it. "Constructicons, finish this village!" However, just as Long Haul and Mixmaster prepared to attack, a large gust of wind tossed them away and sent them screaming into the polluted water.

"What the slag!?" Scrapper exclaimed while eerie flute mustc began playing through the town.

"Boss, look!" Hook exclaimed, pointing to a heavy fig rapidly pouring in and engulfing the village.

"Where's it coming from?" Scavenger asked as a growling noise was heard.

"It's the Painted Lady!" answered the boy who first saw the 'Painted Lady.' "Sheeee's coming!"

"Constructicons, form up!" Srapper commanded. With that, the five other Constructicons formed up behind Scrapper. "If you truly are this 'Painted Lady,' then come out and face us you coward!"

"Boss, what's that sound?" Long Haul asked as a repeating thudding noise, sounding like giant footsteps. Back with the Gaang, it turns out that Toph is elevating and dropping a boulder, Appa was growling, and Sokka was playing the flute, all hiding from the sight of the Constructions. Then, they see the fog parting dramatically to reveal Katara in her full Painted Lady outfit.

"Come on!" Scrapper called out, daring her to attack. For a few seconds, nothing but silence and tension building. Then, suddenly, she rushes to the Constructicons in a burst of waterbending and hops onto the dock.

"Kill her!" Scrapper commanded to the Constructicons. Long Haul and Hook responded by advancing to Katara with their weapons drawn, but before they had the chance to fire, a sudden air blast, which came from Aang, from under the dock sent them flying into the polluted water.

"You three, stand your ground!" Scrapper commanded to Bonecrusher, Scavenger and Mixmaster who advanced to her as well, but Katara motioned her arms and waterbended three flamable barrles to them as they fired, and they hit the barrels insted and sent them flying backwards. Scrapper was in absolute shock as he saw his comrades being taken out like insects, but then glared daggers at Katara from behind his visor.

"Alright, you asked for it fleshling," Scrapper growled. "Constructicons, merge and f-" He didn't have time to react though as a sharp piece of metal flew into his abdomen area and he fell backwards, sparks flying.

"Boss!" Long Haul exclaimed as he and the other Constructicons ran up to their leader.

"Gah, she damaged my t-cog! We can't merge!" Scrapper exclaimed in horror as he looked up and saw Katara raise up her arms and waterbend the water upward.

"Leave now and never come back!" she ordered.

"I think we better do what she says boss," Hook said to his leader as they retreated and left the village. Meanwhile, the rest of the Gaang, minus Aang, rowed to the village as the people applauded Katara.

"I knew you'd come," the boy said.

"Thank you!" Dock said as he walke dup to her.

"Painted Lady, you're the best!" a random villager prclaimed.

"Me and my brothers really owe you a lot," Dock started before getting a better look at her, and shocked at who she really is. "Hey, wait a minute! I know you! You're not the Painted Lady, you're that colonial girl!" Katara just stood there in shock as she wiped a bit of paint off her face.

"Yeah, you're the lady that gave me a fish," the boy added.

"You've been tricking us, you're a waterbender!" Dock exclaimed.

"She's a waterbender!" the random villager shouted. "How dare you act like our Painted Lady!?" The crowd only grew angrier until Sokka ran up and intervened.

"Maybe she is a waterbender, but she was just trying to help you!" Sokka argued. "Because of her, that mining facility won't be polluting your river and the Constructicons are gone! You should be down on your knees thanking her!"

"Sokka, it's okay," Katara said as she removed the hat and vail and walked up to the villagers. "I shouldn't have acted like someone I wasn't, and I shouldn't have tricked you, but I felt like I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not, because your problems are real, and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help you. You have to help yourself."

"She's right, but what should we do?" Dock responded before Toph, hidden in the crowd, pops up and makes a suggestion in a deeper voice.

"Maybe we can clean the river!" she suggested

"Yeah, we can clean the river!" Dock proclaimed, and the crowd cheered in response before Dock walked up to Katara again. "Thank you. You know, you're not half bad for a waterbender."

"You wouldn't mind keeping that a secret, by the way, would you?" Sokka asked.

"No problem," Dock answered. "Keeping my mouth shut is a personal specialty. My brother Xu, on the other hand, hoo! He's a blabbermouth." Sokka just groaned and slapped his forehead in response.

"So, Dock, are you gonna help us clean?" Katara asked.

"No, ma'am, I'm going to get my other brother, Bushi. He loves cleaning rivers," Dock answered...only for him to change hats right in front of them. "Alright, I'm Bushi! Let's get some river cleaning done!"

"Aha, I knew it!" Aang proclaimed, thinking he finally outsmarted him. "I knew you were the same guy. You're the shop owner AND the boat guy."

"Oh, you must be talking about my brothers, Dock and Xu," Do-or X-or, screw it, crazy old man, replied, much to Aang's disbelief.

"No, I just saw you!" Aang argued. "You switched hats and called yourself a different name!"

"Oh, you know who does that?" crazy old man asked. "My brother Dock...he's crazy." The old man just laughed as Aang just fell to the ground in disbelief. Unknown to them though, Buzzsaw saw the entire scene and flew off, back towards the Fire Nation.

After an afternoon spent cleaning the river, with extensive help from the kids, Katara went down to the river at nightfall as the others sleep, when suddenly, an apperition appears before her, and out of the fog, emerged the REAL Painted Lady. Katara just looked up at her in disbelief as the Painted Lady looked down upon her with a gentle smile on her face.

"Thank you," was all she said before dissapearing into the fog.

* * *

Back at the Decepticon base, Megatron was baffled that Scrapper had reported back, claiming that one human female defeated all six Constructicons.

"How, can ONE miserable human, defeat SIX of my finest warriors!?" Megatron shouted in anger before Airachnid emerged from the doorway.

"It wasn't just ONE human my liege," Airachnid said, which got Megatron's attention. "Buzzsaw has reported back from Jang Hui and he saw the whole thing. Apparently this 'Painted Lady' is a waterbender, yet still he was capable of AIRbending." The last word surprised Megatron as he started to piece together the puzzle.

"Meaning that the only logical outcome, is that it was the Avatar and his friends," she finished. Now knowing the information Buzzsaw had came back with, Megatron activated his comlink.

"Dreadwing, set a course to Jang Hui," he commanded the seeker through the comlink.

* * *

Back at Jang Hui, the villagers were starting to get back to a normal life when a Cybertronian jet flew down and transformed into Dreadwing. The villagers were in shock as the mammoth sized seeker walked to the market stand as 'Dock' turned into 'Xu.'

"What can I do for y-WHOA!" he didn't have time to finish as Dreadwing grabbed him and raised him to his face.

"Tell me where the waterbender and her friends were heading when they left here, or I'll skin every man, woman and child in this village," Dreadwing threatened.

"S-she said s-s-something about heading west," the crazy old man replied out of fear before Dreadwing dropped him and transformed and flew west.

"Soon my brother, soon, you may rest in peace knowing your death has been avenged!" he declared as he flew west in super sonic speed.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	14. Sokka's Master

**DISCLAIMER: TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 14: Sokka's Master

* * *

"You were right Bumblebee, this is amazing to watch," Katara commented as the Gaang and the Bots lied on the ground, watching the meteor shower above them.

"Eh, you've seen nothing once, you've seen it a thousand times," Toph remarked, obviously incapable of seeing the beauty of the shower above them, when suddenly one of the meteors started to descend towards them.

"Oh man, you've NEVER not seen anything like this," Sokka said as him and the others, minus Toph, stood up as the meteor flew past them and crashed close to a small village. The kids all went on Appa to the crash site with the Autobots close behind as a fire started to blaze.

"That fire is gonna destroy that town!" Katara claimed.

"Not if we can stop it!" Aang responded as Appa landed next to the fire and everyone but Katara jumped off.

"There's a creek over here," Katara claimed as she jumpped on Appa's head. "I'll bend the water onto the fire." With that, she signals Appa to take off and the sky bison does just that.

"Toph, you, the Bots and I should make a trench to stop the fire from moving any closer," Aang said as he, Toph and the four Autobots move off, leaving only Sokka with nothing to do.

"What should I do?" Sokka asked. Aang and the others stopped to respond and tried to think of something for him to do when Momo flies by.

"Keep an eye on Momo," Aang answered. Sokka just stood there, not believing that Aang had given him such a small task, as Momo lands on his shoulder.

"So what, I'm just a lemur sitter!?" he asks before petting Momo and sarcastically saying to him. "There, there, feel better?"

Meanwhile, Toph and Aang started to earthbend a trench with the Autobots assisting them by digging through the ground to help make the trench longer. When they finished, Toph and Aang successfully pushed the fire back, but not without some of the flames reaching Sokka and Momo, landing on the ground near them. Sokka responds by trying to use his machete to put out the fire, but Momo ups him by putting five flames out at the same time, much to his dismay.

While that was going on, Katara, still on Appa, grabs some water from a river and returns to the crash site, where she begins to waterbend the flames out. Toph in the meantime used her earthbending to put more of the fire out. Sokka however, unable to assist, just sat there and watched along with Momo.

"Sokka, stand clear!" Aang warns as Katara gives him some water to waterbend.

"Right, staying clear, got it," Sokka responded as he picked up Momo and slowly walks away, but not before Aang uses his waterbending, along with his airbending to put the rest of the fire out, the water hitting Sokka, and the blast making it snow.

"Good work everybody," Aang compliments as the rest of the group formed back up, except for Sokka, who emerges from a pile of snow, and Momo, who was busy sliding across the icy surface.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Decepticon base had received an incoming transmission and Astrotrain was the first to report it.

"Lord Megatron," the triple changer said to his master. "We have received a report of a meteor landing near the town of Shu Jing."

"Why should this be of concern Astrotrain?" Megatron asked.

"There might be a possibility of it containing energon," Astrotrain answered.

"Interesting," the tyranous war lord responded. "Starscream!" Right on que, the seeker walked in, wondering what his master needed with him.

"Assemble your team of seekers and investigate this," he ordered, much to Starscream's delight.

"With pleasure my liege, I shall have Thundercracker and Skywarp ready in no time," he responded, before Azula walked in with Ravage, hearing everything that Astrotrain, Megatron and Starscream had just said.

"If I may interupt, I think this would be an appropriate occasion to bring Mai and Ty Lee along with you Starscream," the Fire Nation princess suggested. Megatron thought this over and concluded that it wouldn't hurt much to allow these two fleshlings to assist Starscream.

"Very well," Megatron answered. "I'll allow your friends to accompany Starscream and his seekers." With that, Azula bowed slightly before leaving with Ravage and Starscream left to find Thundercracker and Skywarp, leaving only Megatron and Astrotrain.

"I'm confused my liege," Astrotrain claimed. "Why are we allowing ourselves to work with these primative flesh creatures?"

"Because Astrotrain, we still need materials to return to Cybertron, as well as the energon on this planet to power ourselves," the Decepticon leader answered. "And besides, if they were foolish enough to turn against us, we would send them to their dooms without even trying."

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

At the same time, at the capital city prison, Iroh was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall, drooling, and seemingly looking like a broken, old man. Suddenly, the door opened, and the prison warden walked to his cell, dropped a bowl of mush, and kicked it to Iroh, spilling it. Iroh responds by crawling to it, desperate and gasping for breath, and proceeds to eat it like an animal.

"Look at you," the warden said, cold heartedly. "You're just a fat, disgusting old man. You do nothing, you say nothing, you just eat and roll around in your filth like a pig. You're a disgrace." With that, the warden spitted down on Iroh's food, then left the room, slamming the door shut in the process. Once he was gone, Iroh smiled and picked up the bowl, eating the mush in a much more dignified manner, revealing that his behavior before was just an act.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang, Toph and Katara were seated at an outdoor table at a local resturaunt, each with trays of food, while the Autobots stood close to them, listening to their conversations.

"These people have no idea how close they were to getting toasted last night," Aang said.

"Yeah, the worst thing about being in disguise is we don't get the hero worship anymore," Toph added while eating a dumpling.

"I understand," Warpath said. "I miss being recognized."

"Boo-hoo, poor heroes," Sokka remarked sarcastically as he sat on the edge of the floor by himself, a tray of smoked sea slug next to him.

"What's wrong Sokka?" Warpath asked. "You haven't even touched your smoked sea slug."

"It's just...all you guys can do this awesome bending stuff, and the Bots, well, they speak for themselves," Sokka answered. "I can't fly around. I can't transform. I can't do anything..."

"That's not true," Katara claimed, trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah, no one can read a map like you," Ironhide added.

"I can't read at all!" Toph added.

"Yeah, and who keeps us laughing with sarcastic comments all the time?" Aang asked before grabbing a lock of Katara's hair and gesturing to it. "I mean, look at Katara's hair, right? What's up with that?" Unfortunately, Katara didn't get the joke.

"What!? What's wrong with my hair!?" Katara asked while looking left and right nervously, trying to cover her hair.

"Nothing, I was just trying to-" Aang started before being inturupted by Sokka.

"Look, I apriciate the effort, but the fact is each of you is SO amazing and SO special, and I'm not," he said. "I'm just the guy in the group who's regular." Seeing his friend so down, Warpath went up and sat down next to Sokka.

"Hey, buddy, I'm sorry you're feeling so down, but none of us see you that way," Warpath said reassuringly. Still seeing Sokka down, the rookie Autobot got another idea. "I know something that's gonna make you feel better."

"You do?" Sokka asked. Warpath nodded in response.

* * *

"Shopping!" Sokka exclaimed excitedly in the doorway of a weapons shop while clapping his hands like a teenage girl before running forward, examining various weapons displayed on the racks, the rest following him.

"Maybe a little something to reinvigorate my battling," Sokka suggests before pulling a nunchaku from the rack and starts twirling it. "Hey, how about these? Ho-ya! Smack-a-dacka-do!" But then he hits himself on the head with the nunchaku and falls over, knocking a few of the poles weapons on the rack. Toph reacted by flinching slightly.

Meanwhile, Katara was trying on a pair of gloves and Bumblebee was looking around when Aang came in wearing...what I can best describe as a samurai armor created by Michael Bay.

"Whadya think?" Aang asked. Katara and Bumblebee's reaction was to be slightly alarmed. "Pretty slick, huh?"

"(Uh...)" was all Bumblebee could say.

"All I need to complete the outfit is a wind sword," Aang said.

"What's a wind sword?" Katara asked as she and Bumblebee shielded their eyes from Aang's glorafied armor's shine.

"It's where I get a sword handle, and then I just swing around and bend air out like a blade," Aang answered before raising a sword handle and swung it around, making air noises.

"Yeah...nice," Katara responded. Then the armor started to creek and fall over. Aang started to panic, being unable to move anything except his right arm. Katara and Bumblebee tried to catch Aang, but failed to do so and Aang and the armor hit the floor with a loud thud.

"I'll just stick to what I got," Aang said.

While that was going on, Ironhide was observing a liquid nitrogen hose he bought in the Cybertronian weapons section when Warpath came over holding a weapon that almost made Ironhide scream like a little scraplet in fear.

"Hey 'Hide, I found a cosmic rust gun!" Warpath exclaimed.

"Put that thing away before you kill someone!" Ironhide shouted.

"Oh come on, imagine it, if any Cons wanna try and start something ugly, we'll just grab this bad boy and POW!" Warpath claimed, though accidently firing the weapon at one of the shelves, unleashing cosmic rust on some of the Cybertronian weapons, causing them to rust and decay away.

"...Whoops..." was all Warpath could say.

Sokka in the mean time tried out more weapons. He tried a pole weapon, but when he started to twirl it over his head, it flew up to the cealing like a helicopter. Then he tried a metal club, but he couldn't even pick it up because it was so heavy. He then tried two swords, a chain, and a wobbly spear, but all of them didn't appeal to him. (Well, the chain more or less wrapped around him as he spun it over his head) Then, as he uses a sai as a toothpick, something catches his eye. A sword that was on the wall, with a dragon depicted on the scabbard.

"Ooooh..." was all he could say as he walked up to it, feeling the scabbard. "That's what Sokka's talking about!"

"You have a good eye," the shop keeper said as he and the rest of the Gaang walked up to the sword. "That's an original from Piando, the greatest sword master and sword maker in Fire Nation history. He lives in the big castle up the road from here." With that, the shop keep walked away.

"That's it, that's what you needed all along Sokka!" Aang claimed.

"A sword?" Sokka asked, slightly confused.

"Not the sword...a master," Aang corrected as Sokka pulled the sword off the rack. "We've all had masters to help us get better. You should see if you can study with Piando."

"That's a great idea," Katara said. "I could've never gotten to where I am without Master Pakku."

"And without Optimus Prime, us Autobots would've lost the war eons ago," Ironhide added. "Everyone needs a teacher.

"I learned from badger moles," Toph added. "They don't talk, but they're still good teachers." Sokka took what his friends said into consideration while pulling out the sword and examined the blade before coming to a conclusion.

"It would be nice to be a master sword fighter," he said. "Alright, I'll talk to him."

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" the shop keep shouted as he discovered the broken shelf and cosmic rust from when Warpath accidently fired the cosmic rust gun. The rest of the Gaang just glared at Warpath, who had his hands behind his back and whistled, trying to act innocent.

* * *

Back at the Capital City prison, Iroh was laying on a straw mat in the corner, his hands behind his head. Then, he started doing a series of sit ups, grunting as he does so.

* * *

Back at the town, Sokka and Warpath walked up to the home of Piando, located on the top of a large bluff.

"Thanks for coming here with me Warpath," Sokka said to his Autobot companion. "I don't know if I could have done this alone."

"No problem Sokka," Warpath responded as they neared the door. Sokka grabbed a knocker and tapped it against the door a few times, but no one answered. Frustrated, he knocked on the door again, but again, no answer. He looked over to Warpath who just shrugged. Even more frustrated, Sokka grabbed both knockers and pounded them against the door loudly and frantically before the right door is opened by Piando's butler, Fat, frightening Sokka.

"Can I help you two?" Fat asked, rather apathetically. Sokka quickly composed himself and assumes a more mannered position.

"I've come to train with The Master," Sokka answred.

"And you?" Fat asked Warpath.

"I'm a friend of his," he answered. "I'm just here to make sure he doesn't get into trouble." Fat just nodded and turned back to Sokka.

"You should know The Master turns almost everyone away," he said before holding his hand out. "What did you bring him to prove your worth?" Sokka's eyes widened slightly when he realized that he had nothing to prove himself.

"Well, uh..." he said as he feels around his clothes to try and find something to offer.

"Right..." Fat said as he shook his head slightly. "Let's get this over with." He then gestured Sokka and Warpath to enter the castle.

Once they were inside, they walked to a large room where rows of candles were placed on both sides of the tall windows, and Piando sat at a small table in front of the windows, writing something as Sokka, Warpath and Fat walked inside the room. Sokka then stepped forward.

"Master, my name is Sokka, and I wish to be instructed in the way of the sword," he said.

"Sokka, that's an unusual name," Piando said, which obviously frightened Sokka and Warpath, scared that Piando knew about them.

"Oh, uh, really?" Sokka asked. "Uh, where I'm from, The Fire Nation colonies, it's a pretty normal name, for Fire Nation colonials."

"Let me guess," Piando started as he wrote calligraphy on a piece of parchment. "You've come hundreds of miles from your little village where you're the best swordsman in town, and you think you deserve to learn from The Master."

"Well, actually, I've been all over the world," Sokka corrected.

"Yep, here we go," Piando responded in a slightly knowing tone.

"And I know one thing for sure," Sokka added before getting on his knees and hanging his head. "I have a lot to learn."

"You're not doing a very good job of selling yourself," Piando said as he glanced at him.

"I know," Sokka responded. "Your butler told me that when I met you, I would have to prove my worth, but the truth is...I don't know if I am worthy."

"Hm...I see," Piando said, thinking about Sokka's humble nature, smiling and picking up his sword. "Well, then, let's find out together how worthy you are." He then walked up to Sokka, who looked up at Piando as he slammed his sword's scabbard onto the floor.

"I WILL train you," he said, which caused a huge smile to spread across Sokka's face.

* * *

Meanwhile, Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp were waiting for Mai and Ty Lee so they could begin their mission.

"Could these humans be any slower!?" Thundercracker exclaimed.

"I agree, what's taking them so long?" Skywarp asked Starscream. Right on que though, Mai and Ty Lee walked up to the three seekers.

"Let's just get this over with," Mai said, clearly not excited about going on this mission.

"Yeah, let's," Skywarp said as the three seekers turned into their Cybertronian jet modes. Mai got on Skywarp and Ty Lee got on Thundercracker before the seekers took off and headed to Shu Jing.

* * *

Back at the town, Sokka and Piando stood outside the castle in a sword fighting ring while Warpath watched from the sidelines. Sokka was now wearing an outfit similar to Piando's.

"The first thing you must learn is that your weapon is an extension of yourself," Piando said to Sokka as he unseathes his sword and started to perform a sword form. "You must think of it as another part of your own body."

"Like a second head," Sokka assumed.

"Well...more like an extra long, really sharp arm," Piando corrected as he continued his sword form. "The sword is a simple tool, but in the hands of a master, it becomes the most versatile of weapons." He theh seathed his sword and assumed a stance. "And just as the imagination is limitless, so too are the possabilities of the sword." Sokka smiled and nodded in understanding.

* * *

Meanwhile, back with the Gaang and the other three Bots, Aang, Katara and Toph just laied down and looked at the sky, bored out of their minds.

"What should we do today?" Aang asked.

"I'm tapped out," Toph responded. "I already picked my toes, twice."

"Twice?" Ironhide asked.

"The first time was for cleaning, but the second time's just for the SWEET picking sensation," Toph explained.

"Sokka's been in charge of the schedule," Katara said. "I'm not sure what we should be doing."

"Plus, it's so hot today," Toph added while picking her nose.

"How hot is it?" Aang asked, trying to tell a joke.

"Uh, 97.238 degrees?" Breakaway said, confused.

"It's so hot, it's so hot..." Katara said, trying to think of a punchline. "Momo, is shedding like Appa." She then petted Momo and he shedded slightly. "Huh? Huh?" Aang just scratched his head and no one laughed at Katara's joke.

"I guess the jokes don't run in the family, huh?" Ironhide remarked.

"Oh, everyone's a critic," Katara responded, to which Appa grunted in response.

* * *

Back at the Capital City prison, Iroh was hanging upside down from the cell's cealing bars and doing crunches, panting with effort.

* * *

Back with Sokka and Piando, the two of them stood in front of a table inside the castle, and on the table was a calligraphy stationary.

"The warrior practices a variety of arts to keep his mind sharp and fluid," Piando explained as he flattened a piece of paper on the table. "The first you will learn is calligraphy. Write your name." He then delicately handed a brush to Sokka, who took it and messed with the bristles with his thumb.

"Writing my name will make me a better swordsman?" Sokka asked, slightly skeptical. Piando responded by taking the brush and positioning it correctly in Sokka's hand.

"When you write your name, you stamp the paper with your identity," he explained. "You must learn to use your sword to stamp your identity on a battlefield." Sokka then dipped the brush into the ink and prepares to write his name, only to be interupted by Piando.

"Remember, you cannot take back the troke of the brush, or the stroke of the sword," he explained, which only made Sokka nervous. He scratched his head and placed the tip of the brush on his chin, thinking of what to do.

"Uh Sokka, you got some ink on your face," Warpath said.

"I do?" he asked before looking at the brush. "I am. So this is about putting my identity on the page, right?" Piando nodded in response, which caused Sokka to smile and brush ink all over his face. He then pressed his face on the paper and rolled his head around. Once he was done, Sokka picked up the paper and showed it, smiling cheerfully. On the paper was an inkblot that barely resembled a face. Piando simply closed his eyes in response.

* * *

Back outside, Sokka and Fat were in training equipment and held wooden swords, facing off at the ring. Piando and Warpath both stood at the top steps, watching. Sokka immediately made his first move and thrusted his sword at Fat, but he effortlessly parried the attack and knocked the sword from Sokka's hands, resulting in Sokka running away as Fat chased him, whacking him with the rear of the wooden sword.

* * *

Then Piando, Sokka and Warpath walked to an area in the countryside. Sokka was wearing a blindfold and was being guided by Piando.

"Landscape painting teaches a warrior to hold the lay of the land through his mind," Piando said before the trio stopped and removed Sokka's blindfold. "In battle, you only have an instant to take everything in." Sokka smiled with excitement as he observed the majestic landscape, only for Piando to grab his head and turn him away from it, making him sit in front of a table with a piece of paper, paint, and paint brushes.

"Now, paint it," Piando said. Sokka just gaped in disbelief, wondering how he was capable of painting a landscape he only saw a few seconds ago. He tried to look back at it, but Piando turned his head back.

"And no peeking," he added before walking away, as Sokka begun to paint the landscape, while Piando silently meditated. A few minutes later, Sokka was done.

"I'm finished," he reported Piando opened his eyes and looked at the painting Sokka presented, which was a childish, colorful, inaccurate landscape, which included, of all things, a rainbow and a sun with a smiling face.

"You added a rainbow," Piando said.

"And last I checked, stars don't smile," Warpath added.

"Is that okay?" Sokka asked in a slightly worried manner. Piando just sighed and shaked his head.

* * *

Back at the ring, Sokka and Fat sword fought again in their training gear. Sokka fared much better as he parries a strike and attempted to swing his sword down, but-

"Sokka," Piando suddenly said. Sokka looked over to him, giving Fat an opportunity to circle behind him and kick him in the back, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Concentrate on what you're doing," Piando explained. Sokka reacted by frowning and dropping his head, giving a half hearted thumbs up.

"At least he's learning," Warpath said, trying to defend his friend.

* * *

Then the trio walked to an empty area of the courtyard.

"Rock gardening teaches the warrior to manipulate his surroundings and uses them to his advantage," Piando explained.

"Hm, manipulate them to my advantage," Sokka said, while placing a hand on his chin and thinking carefully. "Oh!" Then he ran down to the area, Piando watching with a look of worry coming over him. Sokka then rolled a huge stone across the ground, groaning at the strain of it. Then he examined a sheet of moss before throwing it on the huge rock and then lays down on it, sighing in relaxation. Fat, who walked up to the trio, gasped in shock at the sight, mainly due to the mess Sokka had created.

"Hey, would you mind having a cold drink for me?" Sokka asked him. Fat simply gasped and turned to Piando, only to get another unexpected request.

"I'll take a slice of lemon in mine, please," he said.

"You guys have energon?" Warpath asked. Fat simply groaned in resignation, hung his head, and walked off to fetch the drinks.

* * *

Back at the ring, Sokka and Fat dueled again, only this time, Sokka gained the upper hand, using all of the techniques he learned, and soon slipped the blade of his wodden sword under Fat's hand and flung the sword from it. A shocked Fat raised his hand in defeat as Sokka placed the sword on the side of Fat's neck, ending the duel. With that, Sokka then placed his hands together and bowed to Piando.

"Alright, way to go Sokka!" Warpath cheered.

* * *

Back at the Capital City prison, Iroh was doing push ups, clapping his hands at the apex of each push, when the warden, who was sitting down, eating a piece of bread, heard the clapping and got up to investigate. He reached the cell door and looked through the barred window to see what was happening.

"What's going on in there?" he asked. He looked and saw Iroh, sitting lazily against the wall, clapping his hands from side to side with a delirious expression.

"Crazy old man," the warden said before leaving. Iroh then smiled when he was sure the warden was gone, ceasing his act.

* * *

Back with the Gaang, Aang, Ironhide and Katara were looking over a map of the Fire Nation.

"So where are we going next?" Katara asked before pointing to an area on the map. "We're starting from here."

"No, we're over on this island," Aang corrected as he pointed to a different spot.

"No, we're over here," Ironhide argued before pointing at another area.

"You noodle-brains don't know what you're doing," Toph remarked. "I miss Sokka."

"Ooh, I got one," Katara said, thinking of another joke. "If you miss him so much, why don't ya marry him?" Once again though, nothing.

* * *

Back with Sokka and Piando, the two of them sat on the ground in the fighting ring outside.

"You've had a good first day of training," Piando said.

"I have?" Sokka asked, slightly surprised. "But I thought I messed up every single thing we worked on."

"You mess things up in a very special way," Piando claimed. "You are ready for a real sword." Those words made Sokka grin with excitement.

"Are you giving me one of yours?" he asked.

"No," Piando responded, to which Sokka groaned disappointingly. However, what Piando said next made him more excited than ever.

"Your sword must be an extension of yourself," Piando reminded. "So tomorrow, you will make your own sword."

* * *

They both went back inside and into a weapons storage area. Standing in front of them was a table with several bricks on it.

"Choosing the correct material is the most important step in crafting a sword," Piando explained. "You must trust your steel with your life. Choose carefully." Sokka then observed the materials in front of him, taking two bricks and weighing them in each hand. He then took another brick and sniffed and bit on it to test its quality. Then he set it down, placing a hand on his chin and thought carefully, when suddenly and idea came to his mind.

"Master, would it be possible for me to leave and bring back a special material for my sword?" Sokka asked.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Piando responded with a smile.

* * *

Meanwhile, the rest of the Gaang was asleep while the Bots were on guard when Toph suddenly sits up, sensing something.

"Sokka's coming!" she exclained, which got Aang and Katara to wake up gasping, smiling excitedly. Sure enough, Sokka and Warpath walked up to the campsite.

"Hey guys, what are you doing?" Sokka asked, when suddenly, the rest of the Gaang jumpped at him and gave him a group hug.

"Sokka!" Aang exclaimed.

"You're back," Toph said.

"We've missed you so much," Katara said.

"Uh, we were only gone for a few hours," Warpath said, confused at the kids' nature.

"Say something funny," Aang requested.

"Funny how?" Sokka asked. Aang and Katara's reaction was to laugh heartily while Toph just crossed her arms and smiled slightly.

"What's their deal?" Warpath asked Toph, still confused.

"I don't know bucket head," Toph answered. "They missed Sokka or something. I didn't care." She then turned away, blushing and smiling.

"Thanks guys, that warms my heart," Sokka said. "Anyway, I need some help."

"What for Sokka?" Breakaway asked.

"Piando said that Sokka was ready to make a sword, and he came up with a great idea to get some material," Warpath responded.

* * *

The group then walked up to the crater created the night before, staring down at the meteorite. Toph then earthbended it open so they could get the material inside. What was revealed caused the Autobots' optics to widen.

"Is that..." Warpath asked.

"It is...energon!" Ironhide responded.

"Is that good?" Aang asked.

"Good? This is great!" Breakaway responded. "With this material in Sokka's sword, that means-"

* * *

"We'll make a sword unlike any other in the world," Piando said as he examined the energon brought to him by Sokka and the rest of the group.

* * *

Back at the Capital City prison, Iroh begun to put his head on the floor of his cell, his legs rising in the air, and begun to perform hand stand push ups, sweating heavily.

* * *

The next morning, Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp, with Mai on Skywarp and Ty Lee on Thundercracker, were closing in on the town of Shu Jing. Mai just sat on the cockpit of Skywarp, bored out of her mind, while Ty Lee curiously looked around the cockpit of Thundercracker. She then curiously pressed one of the buttons and accidently fired his lightning cannon, which would have hit Skywarp had he not teleported behind Thundercracker. Even Mai's eyes widened slightly in fear.

"Thundercracker, what the frag was that!?" Skywarp shouted.

"It wasn't me, it was the human!" Thundercracker shouted back.

"Sorry, I didn't me-" Ty Lee said, trying to apologize before Starscream interrupted.

"SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!" he shouted.

"Remind me again why we're doing this," Mai said, now back to her bored state.

"We are heading to this little town to investigate a meteor landing to see if there is any energon inside the meteorite," Starscream explained before the trio of seekers landed close to the meteor, allowing Mai and Ty Lee to get out before transforming to their robot modes.

"Looks like somebody beat us to it," Skywarp said, seeing the now open meteor.

"Doesn't look like there's anything in there," Mai added, not seeing anything inside.

"No, but there WAS," Thundercracker said, kneeling down and investigating closer to the meteor. It was there where he saw a few bits and pieces of energon. "There was energon in this meteor, but now it's gone."

"What!?" Starscream exclaimed.

"What are we gonna do!?" Ty Lee asked, scared out of her mind. "If we don't get that energon, Megatron's gonna kill us!"

"We'll have to find who took the energon and terminate them, then take the energon and bring it back to him," Starscream said.

* * *

Meanwhile, after a full day of hard work and sweat, Sokka's sword was ready, and he was ready to receive it. Inside the castle, Sokka was seated in front of a standing Piando and Fat, who was holding the sword, which was glowing blue as a result of the energon used to produce it. The rest of the Gaang and the Bots were seated behind Sokka.

"Sokka, when you first arrived, you were so unsure," Piando began. "You even seemed down on yourself. But I saw something inside you right away. I saw a heart as strong as a lion turtle, and twice as big, and as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me, no, it certainly wasn't your skills." Fat then kneeled to Piando and gave him the glowing sword. "You showed me something beyond that." He then unseathed the sword, shining in all its glory. "Creativity, versatility, intgelligence...these are the traits that define a great swordsman, and these are the traits that define you." Then he kneels down, seathing the sword, and giving it to Sokka. "You told me you didn't know you were ready, but I believe that you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained." Sokka then looked down at the sword, but his face wasn't that of pride or acomplishment. No, it was instead a look of shame.

"I'm sorry, Master, you're wrong," Sokka said. "I am not worthy. I'm not who you think I am. I'm no from the Fire Nation. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe." All the rest of the group could do was gawk at Sokka with shock and disbelief that he had just said that. "I lied so that I could learn swordsmanship from you. I'm sorry." He then held up his sword for Piando to take. Piando just frowned and turned away, about to say something, when the wall suddenly exploded, knocking everyone to the floor, and out of the smoke emerged Dreadwing, holding his sword and with his gattling gun on his back.

"That was all I needed to hear," Dreadwing growled.

* * *

While that was going on, Starscream and his team were searching the town for the energon when they heard an explosion. The five of them quickly turned to see Dreadwing standing outside Piando's castle. Starscream gawked at the sight.

"Is that, Dreadwing!?" he asked.

"What's he doing here?" Mai asked. " I thought he was suppose to search for the Avatar."

"Only one way to find out," Thundercracker responded before running up to the castle, the others following him.

* * *

Back in the castle, the Autobots' optics widened when they saw the attacker.

"Dreadwing!?" Ironhide exclaimed in shock. "What's he doing here!?"

"I am here to exact my revenge on all of you!" Dreadwing proclaimed as he charged to the Autobots before Toph earthbended a wall to protect the Autobots, giving them time to get out their weapons. Dreadwing was quick to act however as he threw a bomb at the wall, causing it it explode and collapse.

"Kids, get out of here!" Ironhide shouted to the Gaang.

"We're not leaving you!" Aang proclaimed as he and the others got ready to fight Dreadwing.

* * *

Meanwhile, Starscream's team had arrived at the castle, and what the seeker saw in Sokka's hands made his optics widen.

"The Water Tribe boy has the energon!" he exclaimed. "Grab it!" With those orders, he, Mai, Ty Lee, Thundercracker and Skywarp joined the fight.

"Well, this sure has went from bad to worse hasn't it?" Warpath asked before dodging a blast from Thundercracker's lightning cannon. He and Ironhide then moved in, trying to keep Dreadwing away from the kids.

"Starscream, what is the meaning of this!?" Dreadwing demanded, confused as to why he and his seeker team was here.

"Never mind why I'm here Dreadwing, all you need to know is that we need that sword!" Starscream answered, pointing to the sword Sokka had.

"You'll have to get past my cold, offline servo first!" Ironhide exclaimed, getting his liquid nitrogen hose ready while Warpath deployed the tank barrel from his chest.

"If you insist Autobot scum," Dreadwing responded, getting his gattling gun ready while Starscream readied his null rays. Warpath was the first to attack, using his chest cannon, but the two seekers dodged the blast and Dreadwing started firing his gattling gun. The two Autobots ran for cover before Starscream joined in, firing his null rays.

"Keep em busy kid!" Ironhide commanded.

"You got it!" Warpath responded before comming out and firing his cannon at the seekers. "KA BLAM!" Starscream and Dreadwing quickly dodged them, but then Ironhide came out while they were distracted and used his liquid nitrogen hose to freeze one of Starscream's arms, then ran up and ripped it off.

"GAH! My arm!" Starscream exclaimed before trying to use his razor sharp claws to jab at Ironhide, but was too slow as Ironhide quickly dodged it. However, he wasn't quick enough to see Dreadwing charging to him, and was knocked to the ground.

* * *

While that was going on, back at the Capital City prison, the warden was once again delivering Iroh his supper.

"You use to be the pride of the Fire Nation, our top general, the Dragon of the West," the warden said. "Now, look at you." He then dropped the bowl of fruit and Iroh rushes to grab a green piece of fruit from behind the bars. "Look what you've become." With that, the warden walked out of the cell, slamming the door shut, before Iroh placed the fruit in his mouth and held it with his teeth. He then untied his belt and revealed his once obese stomach was replaced with a more muscular pysique, before jumping to the cealing bars, taking a bite of the fruit, and started doing one handed pull ups.

* * *

Meanwhile, the kids, Breakaway and Bumblebee were busy with Mai, Ty Lee, Thundercracker and Skywarp. Thundercracker was the first to attack using his lightning cannon, but Toph quickly created a barricade of earth to block it. However, Skywarp teleported behind them with, Mai on his hand, and Mai used her knives to pin Toph to the wall with her feet off the ground, blinding her. Katara tried to go on the offensive, but Ty Lee jumped in and used her chi blocking to paralize Katara. Bumblebee, seeing this, tried using a stun blast to take her out, but she quickly dodged it and Thundercracker moved in, firing his lightning cannon at Bumblebee, putting him in temporary stasis. Aang quickly retaliated, using a chunk of earth to knock Thundercracker to the ground, allowing Breakaway to assult him, but before he could, Skywarp teleported in front of him and tossed him through the cealing. Breakaway quickly transformed into his jet mode, but so did Skywarp as he flew upwards to go after Breakaway, and a dogfight ensued.

* * *

Sokka, meanwhile, just stood there, unsure of what to do before seeing Warpath tossed to the wall, knocked into stasis, with Dreadwing slowly walking to him, his sword ready to finish the Autobot rookie.

"Dreadwing, what are you doing!?" Starscream exclaimed before getting tackled by Ironhide. "Forget him and get the sword!"

"I came here to make the Autobots pay, and pay they shall," Dreadwing coldly responded. Sokka looked upon this sight, concerned for his friend, when Piando awakened from being knocked unconsious and spoke to him.

"Sokka, remember what I taught you, the warrior only has a second to take everything in!" he reminded him. Sokka thought about what he had said and observed the environment, when he noticed Dreadwing's bombs strapped to his back. If he could somehow get them to malfunction and detonate, Dreadwing will have been beaten. First however, he needed to get him away from Warpath, so he ran up to Dreadwing and jabbed his sword into his leg, hopping it would get his attention. Thankfuly, Dreadwing felt a slight jolt of pain from his left leg, and looked down to see Sokka jabbing his sword into him. Agrivated, Dreadwing swung his sword down to Sokka, who quickly dodged it. He then quickly ran outside with the mammoth seeker chasing him, when he spotted two containers of flammable objects. He then dragged his sword across the ground to create sparks, which caused the containers to explode once Dreadwing was close.

"Good! Use your surroundings to your advantage!" Piando encouraged as the fight continued. Dreadwing was momentarrly blinded by the smoke, and when it faded, Sokka was nowhere to be see.

"You cannot hide forever flesh creature," Dreadwing coldly stated as he walked through the courtyard. "I WILL find you, and I WILL end you." Sokka however was still nowhere to be seen. He was on a ledge that assended to about Dreadwing's height, hiding in a bush. Then, once Dreadwing wasn't looking, Sokka saw his chance and leaped off the ledge, impaling his sword into Dreadwing's bombs, causing them to malfunction, much to Dreadwing's shock. As he quickly tried to reach them, Sokka jumped off Dreadwing's back and ran from him as fast as he could before the bombs exploded and knocked a now wounded Dreadwing onto the ground.

While that was going on, the fight was tipping towards the Autobots' and the Gaang's favor. Breakaway had blasted Skywarp out of the sky, Aang had knocked Thundercracker to the ground, Katara regained her strength and Bumblebee had awakened from stasis, incapacitating Mai and Ty Lee, and Ironhide was busy pummeling Starscream with his own arm.

"Gah, retreat! RETREAT!" Starscream commanded as he broke free of Ironhide while Thundercracker and Skywarp turned into their jet modes.

"Hey, wait for us!" Ty Lee shouted as she and Mai quickly got on Thundercracker ans Skywarp before they and Starscream blasted into the sky. Dreadwing then weakly got up and glared at the group before transforming and flying away, causing Sokka to grin, knowing he just defeated a Decepticon.

"Excelent work Sokka!" Piando said as he got up and walked to him. Instinctively, the Gaang got into a battle stance, not trusting him after he knew of Sokka's origins.

"I think I'm a little old to be fighting the Avatar," Piando said as the Gaang stepped forward, which shocked them that he knew who Aang really was.

"How did you know?" Aang asked.

"Oh, I've been around a while, you pick things up," Piando answered. "Of course I knew from the beginning that Sokka was Water Tribe. You might wanna think of a better Fire Nation cover name. Try 'Lee.' There's a million Lees."

"But why would you agree to train someone from the Water Tribe?" Katara asked.

"The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation, knowledge of the arts belongs to us all," Piando answered before turning back to Sokka. "Sokka, you must continue your training on your own. If you stay on this path, I know that one day you'll become an ever greater master than I am." With that, both Piando and Sokka bowed respectively to each other before the Gaang departed.

* * *

Outside the castle, the Gaang and the Bots were leaving when Fat ran up to them.

"Wait!" he said, which caused the group to stop and allow Fat to catch up to them. Fat then gave a small bag to Sokka.

"The Master wanted you to have this, as something to remember him by," he explained. Once Sokka was given the bag, the group bowed to Fat before he walked back to the castle. Sokka then opened the bag and pulled out a small tile of stone.

"It's a pai sho tile," he said.

"The white lotus," Aang said as he observed the symbol on the tile.

"What does it mean?" Breakaway asked.

"I have no idea," Sokka answered as they heard Fat close the gate to the castle. They looked and saw the same symbol on the tile on the gate, surrounding the Fire Nation symbol.

"Ooh, that reminds me," Sokka said as he put the tile back in the bag, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bit of energon before giving it to Toph. "Toph, I thought you might like this since you've probably never had a chance to bend space earth before."

"Sweet! Check this out!" Toph exclaimed as she grabbed the energon and started to bend it into various shapes, including what looks like the Nickelodeon 'splat' logo.

"I don't really understand that term, 'space earth?'" Ironhide said as they started walking. "If it's from space, then it's not really earth."

"Must you ruin everything?" Sokka asked.

"I can't believe I missed you," Katara remarked.

* * *

Back at the Decepticon base, Megatron was furious when he heard what Dreadwing and Starscream had to report once they were repaired.

"Let me get this straight," he said as he paced back and forth in front of them, his hands behind his back. "Not only did you allow the Autobots to escape with the energon, but a human, WHO CAN'T EVEN BEND, DEFEATED ONE OF MY STRONGEST WARRIORS IN COMBAT!?"

"My liege, had Dreadwing not attacked Piando's castle, we might have gotten the energon using stealth!" Starscream said, trying to put the blame away from him.

"You DARE to claim that this was my fault!?" Dreadwing shouted at Starscream before turning back to his master. "My liege, allow me to go after them again. I will ensure that they pay for this!"

"You have done enough damage Dreadwing," Megatron responded before turning to Airachnid. "Airachnid, I am putting you in charge of finding the Avatar."

"It will be done Lord Megatron," Airachnid responded with a wicked smirk on her face, where as Dreadwing had a look of shock on his face.

"If you allow this my master, Skyquake will have died in vain!" Dreadwing shouted.

"Stand down Dreadwing, that is an order," Megatron replied. Dreadwing just clentched his fists and started glaring at his master before suddenly pulling out his gattling gun and shot at Megatron, causing him to fly to the wall.

"One that I cannot follow," Dreadwing said before transforming and flying away from the Fire Nation. Megatron meanwhile got up with a scowl, furious at what had just happened.

"Airachnid...your bounty has just increased..." Megatron said.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	15. The Avatar, The Firelord, and The War

**OKAY, QUICK WARNING. THIS IS BASICALLY JUST A SUMMARY OF WHAT HAPPENED IN THE AVATAR AND THE FIRELORD AND WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST LEVEL OF WAR FOR CYBERTRON. IF YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, IT'S OKAY IF YOU SKIP THROUGH THIS, HOWEVER THERE IS SOMETHING AT THE END THAT IS A KEY PART OF THE STORY, SO PLEASE READ THAT AT LEAST. OH, AND AS USUAL, TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 15: The Avatar, the Firelord, and the War for Cybertron

* * *

The Gaang had recently stopped at an island to rest. At night, inside the mind of a sleeping Aang, Alpha Trion emerged from the darkness.

"Aang, there is something you must know of our past before attempting to end this war," he said. "Meet me at the former home island of Avatar Roku on the day of Earth's summer solstice."

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, Zuko was asleep on his side when he heard footsteps. He immediately awoken and leaped out of his bed, rushing to the hallway to investigate. He was just in time to see a mysterious cloaked figure walking down the hallway, but was too late to see who it was. He starts running down the hallway, but then sees a scroll on the floor. Curious, he slowly picked up the scroll and begun to read it.

"You need to know the story of your great-grandfather's demise," he read aloud. "It will reveal your own destiny."

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Meanwhile, a large cloud was moving very quickly across the sky. A closer look revealed that Aang was on Appa's neck, bending the elements of air and water to create a cloud to hide their movements. Sokka, Katara and Toph were each on Appa's saddle while Breakaway followed them to keep a close optic on them. Soon, they closed in on a seemingly uninhabited island with two volcanoes.

"There it is," Aang said. "Roku's home."

* * *

Soon they landed on the island, with Breakaway turning into his robot mode.

"But there's nothing here," Breakaway said, confused, as he looked around, seeing nothing that inhabited the island, not even plant life. Then, Toph jumped from Appa's saddle, and senses something horrifying underneath the ground.

"Yes there is," she said somberly "An entire village. Hundreds of houses. All completely buried in ash."

* * *

While that was going on, back at the Fire Nation, Zuko stood before a giant portrait of his great grand-father, Fire Lord. Sozin.

"It's never too early for a sitting with the court painter Zuko," Azula remarked as she walked past him, again with Ravage beside her. "Make sure he gets your good side."

"Wait," Zuko suddenly said before his sister left the room. "I need to ask you something. What do you remember about our great-grandfather's history?" Azula's reply was to sigh before walking back to her brother.

"Ah, Zuko, it's so strange how your mind works," she said before also looking up at the portrait of her great-grandfather. "Fire Lord Sozin began the war of course. He spent his early years secretly preparing for it, but he was as patient as he was clever. he famously waited for the comet, later renames Sozin's Comet, and used its power to launch a full scale invasion of the world. In the end, he died a very old and successful man."

"But how did he die?" Zuko asked, slightly confused.

"Didn't you pay any attention in school Zuko?" Azula responded before beginning to walk away with Ravage. "He died peacefully, in his sleep. He was ancient."

* * *

Back at Roku's island, Aang sat on the tip of a hardened wave of lava, meditating, before his arrow on his head glows, and inside his mind, he saw Alpha Trion walking to him.

"Are you ready to begin young Avatar?" he asked. Aang simply nodded in response before a bright light engulfed them, and Aang and Alpha Trion both stood in a futuristic, alien city.

"Where are we Alpha Trion?" Aang asked.

"This is our home, Cybertron, before the war," Alpha Trion responded, which caused Aang's eyes to widden in shock.

"THIS is Cybertron!?" he exclaimed excitedly. "This is so cool!"

"Yes, as Optimus said, Cybertron was once a powerful and peaceful empire, until the day a gladiator by the name of Megatronus, who now you may know as Megatron, formed a group of Cybertronians known as the Decepticons and waged civil war on our planet," Alpha Trion responded with his head down. "I am sorry you have to see this." Suddenly, the once peaceful and thriving city changed to a city that was ravaged by war. The bodies of hundreds, if not thousands of Transformers were everywhere, buildings were destroyed, and fires engulfed the city. Aang looked upon the destruction in pure shock, previously not knowing of just how destructive this war was.

"For millions of years, the Autobots and Decepticons waged thousands of battles to try tip the balance in one side's favor so this carnage could finally end, but one in particular stood out above the rest." Alpha Trion explained before another bright light transported them to an alien ship, traveling to a station that orbited Cybertron and being heavily fired upon.

"This is a Decepticon warship called the Harbinger, currently leading an assuly on an orbital research facility," Alpha Trion explained before Aang heard something that almost made his heart stop.

"Hold your course!" Megatron ordered. "Starscream wouldn't fight with such desperation if the legends weren't true!" Upon seeing the Decepticon leader, Aang prepped himself to attack, but Alpha Trion stopped him.

"No need young Avatar, he cannot see or hear us," he explained. Aang simply stood down and nodded once in understanding.

"Lord Megatron, you're certain it's here?" a Decepticon scout by the name of 'Barricade' asked.

"I am certain Barricade, and when I find it, the balance of this war with the Autobots will finally tip in my favor," Megatron answered before the Harbinger was hit by an enemy missile.

"Lord Megatron, stabalizers are failing!" the Combaticon known as 'Brawl' reported.

"Maintain your heading Brawl!" Megatron ordered. "Do not falter!"

"Secondary engines are offline!" Barricade reported. "Shields at 15%!"

"Reroute all power to forward guns and thrusters!" Megatron ordered. "Full speed ahead!" His last statement caused Aang's eyes to widen as well as a Vehicon to nearly gawk in disbelief.

"But sir, that's suicide!" the Vehicon said, only for him to get blasted to pieces by Megatron's fussion cannon.

"Any further objections?" Megatron asked before turning to his two pilots. "Ram this warship straight into the heart of that station!" Suddenly, Aang fely himself flying backwards to the back wall as the Harbinger's engines blasted the ship forward, heading towards the space station. Aang was scarred out of his mind before yet another bright light transported him and Alpha Trion inside the station. Aang fell to the ground, unharmed, and sighing in relief. He then got up to see Megatron, Barricade and Brawl looking up at a holographic projection of Starscream.

"I am Starscream, and I have protected MY station for over a thousand years!" the hologram said before Megatron stepped forward, unphased at Starscream's attempts to intimidate him.

"I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons," he announced. "This space station is Decepticon property." Aang was slightly confused at all this, knowing Starscream was a Decepticon.

"Alpha Trion, why are Starscream and Megatron speaking like they've never met before?" Aang asked.

"Because they haven't," Alpha Trion answered. "Starscream wasn't always a Decepticon. During the waning days of the war, he was a sky commander, and the protector of this very space station that Megatron had invaded."

"Surrender, immediately!" Megatron ordered Starscream.

"Whoever you are, you've traveled a long way just to meet your doom," Starscream responded, unintimidated, as the hologram disappeared and turrets were deployed from the ceiling. Nothing they couldn't handle however, as the Decepticons trashed them with ease and moved forward, as did Aang and Aplha Trion.

* * *

While that was going on, Zuko layed on his bed, rolling over from side to side, puzzled beyond belief as he looks at the scroll, then grabs it and reads it again.

"What does it mean?" he asked, frustrated, before tossing the scroll beside, landing beside his lantern. Then, Zuko looked in shock at what the light from the lantern revealed. A secret message on the scroll. He immediately then grabbed it and read it.

"The Fire Sages keep the secret history in the Dragon Bone Catacombs," he read aloud.

* * *

Later that night, in an ominous temple, Zuko waited paitently behind a pillar when he spotted a fire sage walking through the courtyard, wondering what he was doing there. The sage walked to the middle of the courtyard, where a large medallion in the shape of a flower layed on the ground. The sage then stopped ontop of it, crouched low, and delivered a fire blast straight into the center of the design. Suddenly, it begun to open, revealing a hidden passage underground. The sage then walked down the steps, unaware of Zuko waiting for him to disappear. Then, Zuko went to the secret passage and used the same technique the sage used to open it.

* * *

Zuko traveled down the passage, walking through an ancient hallway, til he came across an ornate door with a metal sculpture of Sozin on it. Zuko then placed his hand on the Fire Nation emblem on the chest of the sculpture and delivered a powerful fire blast, causing the fire to fill the door, and the door to open. Once it was open, Zuko entered the room, pulling his cloak from his head and raised his lantern to look around the dark chamber filled with artifacts and vessels. He then walked to a large dragon statue, and under the head, Zuko found what he was looking for.

"The final testament of Fire Lord Sozin," he read aloud. He then grabbed the testament and opened it, pulling out a scroll. The final words written by Sozin himself.

"As I feel my own life dimming, I can't help but think of a time when everything was so much brighter," the scroll read.

* * *

_In the Fire Nation courtyard, two young firebenders were sparring. One was wearing the headpiece that enforced him as the_ _prince of the Fire Nation. His name: Sozin. The other had long hair and was wearing a red sleeveless outfit. His name: Roku._ _The two of them kept sparring, showing an impressive display of firebending, when Sozin noticed that Roku's feet were_ _close to a tree root. Sozin simply smiled as he steps up to attack, driving Roku to fall back and trip on the tree root._ _Sozin quickly grabbed his friend's shirt to keep him from falling, raising his hand as if he were going to firebend, but_ _instead lets his friend fall to the ground._

_"Looks like I win again Roku," Sozin said with a smile while helpping Roku to his feet._

_"Are you kidding?" Roku responded. "The tree root did all the work." He then got back on his feet and patted Sozin on the_ _shoulder to praise his clever manuver._

_"Nice one Sozin," he complimented._

* * *

_As they left the courtyard, a beautiful young Fire Nation woman walked past them. Roku just stared at her and blushed,_ _which was noticed by Sozin._

_"Say something to her," he tells Roku while nudging to him. Roku responded by walking up to the young woman, raising his_ _hand to greet her._

_"Uh...ahhh..." he said, trying to say something, but was far too embarrassed to, and instead put his hands on his head and_ _fell back onto the ground. Sozin walked up to him and sprinkled blades of grass onto Roku's face._

* * *

_A while afterward, a celebration was going on as a large crowd of Fire Nation citizens looked up and saw Sozin and Roku_ _standing on the top of a large staircase. The occasion: it was their birthdays. As the two walked down the stairs, Roku_ _noticed a young woman watching him, blushing, with her friend leaning over her shoulder, giggling. Roku blushed slightly_ _at the woman's interest when he suddenly begins to fall down the stairs, distracted by the young woman. Sozin reacted_ _quickly by grabbing Roku's hand. Roku then composed himself and blushes again, this time due to embarrassment. Sozin_ _reacted by laughing at his love smitten friend before suddenly a group of fire sages entered the courtyard, walking toward_ _Sozin and Roku. Concerned, Sozin hurried down the stairs to them._

_"Did something happen to my father?" he asked._

_"No Prince Sozin," one of the fire sages answered. "We are not here for you. We are here to announce the identity of the_ _next Avatar." Their answer left Roku and Sozin in shock as the sages bowed to respect the new Avatar, then finally_ _announced who it was._

_"It is our honor to serve you, Avatar Roku," the sage said. Roku just stood there, still at the top of the stairs, his jaw_ _dropping in disbelief before the entire crowd quickly kneeled before him._

* * *

Back with Aang and Alpha Trion, Megatron, Brawl and Barricade were on a lift, heading to another level of the research station, when outside, a Cybertronian jet came in and transformed into an Autobot known as 'Jetfire.'

"The name is Jetfire," he said to Megatron. "I'm not here to fight."

"That makes one of us," Megatron coldly responded. "Speek your peace, quickly."

"I've seen the horrors of what Dark Energon can do Megatron," Jetfire began. "It is not to be triled with. It's power is too unstable. To use it would mean disaster!"

"You cannot frighten me Jetfire," Megatron replied. "I will use Dark Energon as I please."

"You are a short sight you fool!" Jetfire responded. "You'll kill us all!" With that, Jetfire turned into his jet mode and flew away.

"You say that as if it were a bad thing," Megatron remarked, before Aang asked the obvious question to Alpha Trion.

"What's Dark Energon?" he asked.

"It is a horror that unfortunately must be seen to be believed," Alpha Trion answered before another bright light engulfed them.

* * *

Back in the real world, Sokka, Katara, Toph and Breakaway looked at Aang, slightly disturbed. He was still meditating, but now he was crouched down in a peculiar way.

"Do they have bathrooms in the spirit world?" Katara asked, slightly disgusted. Sokka responded by raising his index finger before responding.

"As a matter of fact...they do not," he said.

"What's a bathroom?" Breakaway asked.

* * *

Thankfully it wasn't what they thought it was as back in his mind, Aang was crouched down on the top of a pillar with Alpha Trion standing beside him. They observed Megatron and his two allies blowing enemy Cybertronians to bits before observing the schematics of the space station.

"Soundwave, we've located the holo-map," Megatron reported via his comlink. "I'm sending the data to you now." Suddenly, two holograms of Starscream projected to the left and right of the holo-map.

"Megatron!" he exclaimed in shock. "You may have gotten this far, but you'll never get your hands on the Dark Energon."

"Starscream," Megatron began. "This acromony is needless. I know who you once were, sky commander, and that you were betrayed. With Dark Energon I shall return Cybertron to its former glory, and YOU, to yours, if you agree to serve me."

"You're a fool!" Starscream responded, clearly not interested in Megatron's offer. "No one can control Dark Energon!" With that, the holograms shut off.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zuko continued to read up on Sozin's final document.

"Soon the day came when my friend Roku had to leave the Fire Nation and face his destiny as the Avatar," the scroll read. "He needed to travel the world so he could master the other elements."

* * *

_Inside Roku's room, the new Avatar just stared at the floor until Sozin appeared in the doorway._

_"Hey, why aren't you packed yet all-powerful Avatar?" he remarked. It was then that he noticed something was wrong when_ _Roku didn't even move. Sozin then looked down, sympathetic, before perking right back up._

_"Come on, show me how it's done," he said with a smile. "Using all four kinds of bending."_

_"I started packing, but the fire sages told me I won't need any worldly possessions anymore," Roku finally said,_ _depressed, which caused Sozin's smile to fade as he sat down next to his friend._

_"Oh..." he replied, slightly saddened._

_"It happened so fast," Roku said. "Everything's going to be different now." Sozin then thought of something as he reached_ _up to his head dress and removed it from his top knot, holding it out towards Roku._

_"Here," he said. "I hope you're at least allowed to have this."_

_"But this is a royal artifact," Roku responded. "It's suppose to be worn by the crown prince."_

_"I want you to have it," Sozin said. Finally, Roku accepted the gift and smiled slightly as he placed it on his own top_ _knot before the two of them stood up and bowed towards one another._

* * *

"Twelve long years passed before I saw my friend again," the scroll continued. "When Roku returned, he was a fully realized Avatar, and I had changed too."

* * *

_It had been twelve years. During that time Sozin had been crowned as the next Fire Lord. One day, Roku entered the throne_ _room to see his friend sitting on the throne._

_"Sozin, or should I say, Fire Lord," Roku said cheerfully._

_"Customarily, mu subjects bow before greeting me..." Sozin responded, rather seriously, before getting up and walking to_ _Roku. "...but you're the exception." With that, the two friends exchanged in a hug._

* * *

_A few months had passed and Roku was getting married to that same woman from the courtyard: Ta Min, and Sozin was his best_ _man._

* * *

"On wedding days, we look to the future with optimism and joy," the scroll continued. "I had my own vision of a brighter future."

* * *

_While Roku and Ta Min were thanking guests, Sozin came up to the couple._

_"Excuse me, may I borrow him for a moment?" Sozin asked Ta Min._

_"It's not very traditional, but, okay," Ta Min replied._

* * *

_The duo then walked onto a balcony to speak in privacy._

_"What's on your mind?" Roku asked his friend._

_"I've been thinking hard about the state of the world lately," Sozin answered, rather seriously, before Roku placed a hand_ _on Sozin's shoulder._

_"Sozin, it is my wedding!" Roku replied cheerfully. "Have a cookie, dance with someone, lighten up!"_

_"I know, I know, but just hear me out," Sozin said, smiling slightly. "Right from the start, I was destined to be Fire_ _Lord, and although we didn't always know it, you were destined to be the Avatar. It's an amazing stroke of fate we know_ _each oher so well, isn't it? Together, we could do...ANYTHING."_

_"Yeah, we could," Roku replied, now in a more serious manner._

_"Our nation is enjoying an unprecedented time of peace and wealth," Sozin continued. "Our people are happy, and we're so_ _fortunate in so many ways."_

_"Where are you going with this?" Roku asked in a concerned manner._

_"I've been thinking, we should share this prosperity with the rest of the world," Sozin answered. "In our hands is the_ _most successful empire in history. It's time we expanded it."_

_"No!" Roku immediately answered, shocked at what his best friend is suggesting. "The four nations are meant to be just_ _that: four."_

_"Roku, you haven't even stopped to consider the possibilities," Sozin responded._

_"There are NO possibilities," Roku replied. "This is the last I want to hear about this." With that, Roku walked away from_ _the balcony with an angry expression on his face while Sozin glared onto the horizon._

* * *

_Many years had past, and Roku had learned that Sozin had betrayed him by moving along with his plan. He discovered this_ _while ridding on his pet dragon: Fang, and saw an Earth Kingdom fortress with the Fire Nation insignia strewn over the_ _Earth Kingdom symbol._

* * *

_Shocked, Roku flew back to the Fire Nation and busted through the doors to Sozin's throne room._

_"I've seen the colonies Sozin!" he shouted as he walked to Sozin. "How dare you occupy Earth Kingdom territory!?"_

_"How dare you, a citizen of the Fire Nation, address your Fire Lord this way?" Sozin coldly asked. "Your loyalty is to our_ _nation first. Anything less makes you a traitor."_

_"Don't do this Sozin!" Roku pleaded. "Don't challenge me. It will only end badly...It's over." As he turned to leave,_ _Sozin, filled with rage, jumped from his throne and delivered a powerful stream of fire, but once they died down, Roku was_ _nowhere to be seen. Sozin looked around to try and find him, but was too late as Roku emerged from the earth behind Sozin_ _and delivered a powerful air blast to him, causing him to fly back to the wall before Roku earthbended a pillar to lift_ _Sozin upward and pin him to the ceiling by his robes. Then Roku brought his hands together and entered the Avatar State_ _as a powerful blast destroyed the palace before Roku airbended an air spout and levitated to Sozin._

_"I'm sparing you Sozin," he said. "I'm letting you go in the name of our past friendship, but I warn you, even a single_ _step out of line will result in your PERMANENT end." Sozin reacted by glaring daggers at Sozin before he hanged his head_ _in defeat._

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang and Alpha Trion were on another lift that Megatron, Brawl and Barricade had activated.

"I tire of these futile attempts to resist me," Megatron said. "Dark Energon will be mine."

"What makes you think you can control the Dark Energon when no one else has been able to?" Barricade bluntly asked.

"Only the strong are worthy of such a weapon Barricade," Megatron replied. "I am the strongest, and DO NOT question me again!" Suddenly the door opened and what was behind it caused Aang, Barricade and Brawl to gawk in disbelief. An entire section of the section was ravaged, damaged beyond any repair.

"Fascinating," Megatron said. "According to this, a quantity of Dark Energon became unstable, and the resulting explosion destroyed this part of the station."

"Dark Energon did all of this!?" both Aang and Brawl exclaimed.

"Those fools had no idea how to control it," Megatron replied. "I'll not make the same mistake." With that, the three Cons moved forward, though not before Megatron executed a wounded soldier. With another bright light, Aang and Alpha Trion were transported to a hallway where Megatron and his men observed the device that contained the Dark Energon, when Starscream,in the flesh, flew in and transformed into his robot mode, not believing that Megatron had survived this long.

"Impossible!" he exclaimed. "No one has ever survived to reach this place!"

"You shall soon learn Starscream," Megatron responded. "I decide what is possible and what isn't."

"Guards, hold him off while I destroy the last of the Dark Energon remnants," Starscream ordered as dozens of guards ran to Megatron's current position and he flew to a console, activating the self destruct sequence.

* * *

_It had been twenty-five years since Roku and Sozin fought. The two didn't see or speak to each other during that time._ _Roku spent most of his time on his home in the dual volcano island with Ta Min, but one day, a loud noise woke the two of_ _them. Roku looked outside and saw that one of the volcanoes had started to erupt, shooting fireballs all over the small_ _town on the island. Roku and his wife quickly fled away from their house, only to find that the air was filled with toxic_ _smoke and ash._

_"Let's go!" Roku said as he grabbed his wife's hand and created a pathway._

* * *

"Roku's island was a hundred miles away, but I could still feel it rumbling and see the black plume of smoke," Sozin's scroll continued. "I had never seen anything like this catastrophe."

* * *

_Most of the townspeople had fled on boats, including a worried Ta Min, but Roku stayed behind to save the town and try and_ _buy them more time, including stopping a landslide from destroying the town, and creating a channel in the bottom of the_ _summit to divert the lava away from the town and into the ocean. Unfortunately, Avatar or not, he couldn't do it alone._ _The volcano suddenly expeled another giant wave of lava and Roku leaped towards it, sending a powerful air blast to_ _cool and harden the lava, but then a blast of poisonous gas spouted to his right. He reacted by airbending it away before_ _going back to the lava. Then Fang came in flying, narrowly escaping a lightning strike, roaring in fear._

_"It's alright Fang!" Roku shouted. "Get out of here! I'm fine!" He then entered the Avatar State and, with a powerful_ _blast, earthbended a tremor through the volcano, breaking the back side of the crater, lessening the lava flow, but then_ _the second volcano erupted and Roku, no longer in the Avatar State, hopelessly dropped his head. Then, Sozin, riding a_ _blue dragon, appears._

_"Need a hand old friend?" Sozin asked._

_"Sozin!?" Roku exclaimed in a surprised manner._

_"There's not a moment to waste," Sozin said before Roku jumped onto Sozin's dragon and rode to the second volcano. Roku_ _started by bending the fire fountain down into the crater while Sozin cooled the lava by absorbing the heat, passing it_ _through his hand, and redirected it out of his hand. Suddenly, lightning struck above Sozin and as the earth became_ _unstable, he started to fall back, but Roku quickly earthbended an earth shelf to catch him in time. Suddenly, the earth_ _started to shake violently and the two took this as their que to run._

_"Don't breath the toxic gas!" Roku warned, but suddenly, a jet of toxic gas shot up directly next to Sozin and Roku_ _airbended it away to protect his friend. However, gas suddenly erupted directly into Roku's face, causing him to be_ _disoriented._

_"It's too much..." he weakly said as he found his sight becoming blurry. Overwhelmed by the toxins, he then fell to his_ _knees and held his hand up to Sozin, pleading him to help him._

_"Please..." was all he could say, but what Sozin said to him was the last thing he wanted to hear._

_"Without you, all my plans are suddenly possible," he said. "I have a vision for the future Roku." With that, he got on his dragon and flew away, leaving Roku to die as a land slide started to come down to him, but now he was far too weak to do anything about it. Then, Fang flew down and lied next to his master as the rock slide came down and killed them both._

* * *

"With Roku gone, and the great comet returning, the timing was perfect to change the world," the scroll continued. "I knew the next Avatar would be born an Air Nomad. So I wiped out the Air Temples, but somehow, the new Avatar eluded me. I wasted the remainder of my life searching in vain. I know he's hiding out there somewhere. The Fire Nation's greatest threat...the last airbender." And that was it.

"That can't be it!" Zuko exclaimed as he finished reading, frantically searching for more information. "Where's the rest of it!?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in Aang's head, the young Avatar and Alpha Trion watched as Megatron wasted the last of Starscream's guards.

"Quick, blast the containment field!" Megatron ordered his men before he, Brawl and Barricade all fired at the object that contained the Dark Energon they searched for, before it opened and revealed a dark purple energon crystal, surging with power. Megatron then slowly walked towards it as Starscream flew down to the ground, not believing what Megatron is doing.

"You arrogant fool!" he exclaimed. "No one has ever survived direct contact!" Then Megatron was pulled into the crystal, but much to Starscream's surprise, he wasn't torn to pieces. No, instead the Dark Energon surged through his body, giving him almost limitless power.

"WHAT!?" Starscream exclaimed. "This isn't possible! No...no one can control Dark Energon! It dominates and destroys everything it touches!" Megatron's reaction was to laugh evilly at Starscream's remarks while he jumped back to the ground and Starscream ran away. (big shock)

"I...am the domminator. I...am the destroyer! **I...AM...MEGATROOOOOOON!**" the tyrant declared as the Dark Energon surged through his body while Aang looked at the sight in shock and slight fear. "Decepticons, receive your birthright!" With that, he blasted Brawl and Barricade with Dark Energon, allowing it to surge through their bodies as well.

"I can feel the power!" Brawl exclaimed.

"It's amazing!" Barricade added.

"Now...I shall deal with Starscream," Megatron declared as he went up to a force field and with one touch caused it to disappear as well as blast two guards back to the wall. The guards tried fending them off, but they were blasted to pieces in just one shot by even the Cons' weakest weapons. It was a massacre. Then Megatron walked up to a door and simply touched it to have it blasted down. Inside the room, Starscream was speaking with Jetfire with Thundercracker and Skywarp on his side when they saw Megatron enter the room.

"Dark Energon is mine to command," he declared as he and his men walked to the group. "Through my will alone shall Cybertron be restored!"

"It's too unstable Megatron," Jetfire warned. "Using that power, you're endangering our entire world!" But then Starscream came forward and said something that put Jetfire in a state of shock.

"Teach me Megatron," he requested. "Teach me to wield Dark Energon the way you do, and I will serve you."

"And what could you possibly offer me that I cannot simply take?" Megatron asked.

"The supply of Dark Energon aboard this station is nearly exhausted," Starscream answered. "I know how to manufacture more. There was once an energon bridge that fed this station directly. I know how to re connect it."

"Traitor!" Jetfire shouted. "Zeta Prime will hear about this!" With that, he transformed and flew off to report this to the original leader of the Autobots, Zeta Prime, and with that, one last flash of light transported Aang and Alpha Trion away from the carnage.

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, Zuko walked back to the Captial City prison and to his uncle's cell, frustrated beyond belief.

"You sent this, didn't you!?" Zuko shouted at his uncle. "I found the secret history. Which, by the way should be renamed 'the history most people already know.' The note said that I needed to know about my great-grandfather's death, but he was still alive in the end.

"No...he wasn't..." Iroh responded as he looked up to Zuko.

"What are you talking about?" Zuko asked.

"You have more than one great-grandfather, Prince Zuko," Iroh answered. "Sozin was your father's grandfather. Your mother's grandfather was Avatar Roku." That bombshell put Zuko in a state of shock.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

"Because understanding the struggle between your two great-grandfathers, can help you better understand the battle within yourself," Iroh explained. Evil and good are always at war inside you, Zuko. It is your nature, your legacy. But there is a bright side. What happened generations ago can be resolved now... by you. Because of your legacy, you alone can cleanse the sins of our family and the fire nation. Born in you, along with all this strife, is the power to restore BALANCE to the world." Then Iroh removed a brick from the wall and pulled something out. He then unwrapped the bundle and handed what was inside to Zuko. What was inside was Roku's head dress. "This is a royal artifact. It's supposed to be worn by the crown prince." Zuko reached out and took the head dress from Iroh's hands, looking at it while Iroh just stood there quietly, looking at his nephew."

* * *

"As you can see, Dark Energon can become a very lethal weapon if controlled by the Decepticons," Alpha Trion explained. "After that battle, the Decepticons killed Zeta Prime and heavily damaged the Autobot guardian, Omega Supreme." Images of Zeta's death and Omega Supreme being crippled were shown to Aang as proof.

"I understand, but why did you show me this Alpha Trion?" Aang asked.

"You are aware of Sozin's Comet, correct?" Alpha Trion asked the young Avatar.

"Yeah," Aang answered, wondering what this was leading to.

"The comet itself...is nothing more that a large chunk of Dark Energon," Alpha Trion explained, which caused Aang's eyes to widen in pure shock and disbelief.

"If what you say is true Alpha, then-" Aang started.

"Then not only will the firebenders be affected, but so will the Decepticons," Aplha Trion finished. "And with their combined strength, they will have the power to shatter the balance of this world. That is why you MUST stop them at the Day of Black Sun Aang, you MUST light this world's darkest hour." With that final statement, Alpha Trion disappeared.

"Don't worry Alpha Trion...I won't fail," Aang responded in a determined manner.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	16. The Runaway

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 16: The Runaway

* * *

The Gaang made their next stop in the Fire Fountain Village. In an isolated area, Aang stood between Katara and Toph, both in combat stances, and Aang was wearing a blindfold.

"Okay, I'm ready for some training!" Aang proclaimed as he assumed a fighting stance and stomps on the ground, sensing what is around him through earthbending much like how Toph 'sees.' Toph goes first by bending several columns of earth his way, but Aang dodges them with ease. Katara then attacked with a water whip and Aang evaded this as well, recoiling it back onto her and hurling a boulder towards Toph, who caught it with one hand.

"Good job Twinkle Toes!" Toph complimented. "Visualize, then attack!" She then propelled the boulder to Aang, who burrowed underground to avoid it...only for the boulder to hit Katara instead.

"Maybe you should take your own advice Toph," Katara angrily suggested.

"What's the matter?" Toph asked obnoxiously. "Can't handle some dirt Madame Fussy Britches?" Katara's response: drenching Toph with a wave of water.

"Oh, sorry, did I splash you mud slug?" Furious, the two of them launch themselves at each other on ramps of ice and rock, colliding and falling to the ground.

"Are we taking a break?" Aang asked, still blindfolded. Meanwhile, Sokka, smirking, rushed towards Aang, yelling.

"YAAAAAAH SNEAK ATTACK!" he yelled, only for Aang to bend a column of earth behind him, making Sokka collide with it. He then removed his blindfold.

"Sokka, sneak attacks don't work if you yell out loud," Aang said. Meanwhile, Katara and Toph were...for lack of a better term...mud wrestling.

"Hungry for a mud pie?" Toph remarked before kicking mud at Katara's face.

"Ugh! I'll give you a mud pie!" Katara answered before mudbending Toph to the ground, only for her to spring back up and earthbend Katara into the air. They were about to go again when Breakaway stepped in.

"Guys, we're suppose to be training Aang!" Breakaway reminded. Katara then got up, salvaging what little dignity she had and walked to Aang.

"Pupil, I believe we've had enough training for today," she said before walking away.

"While Katara cleans up, let's go have some fun!" Toph drisively suggested.

"Yeah!" Sokka and Aang both said.

"I'm in!" Breakaway added.

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

The four of them then walked into Fire Fountain Village while messenger hawks constantly flew about.

"Look at all those messenger hawks," Sokka said. "You know, I've been thinking about getting one for myself. That way, I wouldn't have to talk to anyone... I could just send them messages!"

"I gotta say, I like the idea of not talking to you," Toph joked, to which Breakaway couldn't help but snicker slightly, which earned him a scowl from Sokka.

"Sorry," Breakaway said.

"So guys, what are we gonna get with our last silver piece?" Aang asked.

"We can get more money, right there," Toph answered before pointing to a street below, where a Combaticon named 'Swindle' fleeced a crowd of Fire Nation citizens with a shell game.

"Swindle?" Breakaway asked. "What's he doing here?"

"This is where you seeing people are at a disadvantage," Toph said. "Everyone guesses wrong because this Swindle guy moves the rock at the last minute, but I can feel it with my earthbending."

"Why am I not surprised?" Breakaway asked. "Swindle'll do anything just to con everyone he sees. He could even con Megatron if he wanted to."

* * *

The group decided to give it a try and descended to the street below where the firebenders gathered around the table where Swindle was. Swindle was busy counting the silver pieces that one of the citizens had lost when he spots Toph, acting innocent, and notices she was blind.

"Jackpot," Swindle whispered to himself. "Why hello there little girl, would you like to play a friendly game?"

"How can I possibly play?" Toph asked, again acting innocent. "I'm blind."

"You don't have to see to be lucky kid," Swindle responded. Toph then sat down, feeling the table and the shells as if she actually was blind, before placing her last silver piece on the table.

'Oh, this is gonna be too easy,' Swindle thought as he smirked at Toph's actions before lifting the shells, showing the small rock was in the middle. He then placed the shells back on the table and started to move them, using his techniques to move the rock to another shell, but Toph simply smirked, knowing where the rock really was, and pointed to the shell in her left. Swindle then lifted the shell to reveal that the rock was indeed there, slightly surprised.

"Flamey-o Toph!" Aang exclaimed as Swindle handded Toph a bag of money.

"Hm...fancy guessing little girl," Swindle said. "You have quite a bit of luck on your side. Wanna see just how lucky you can get?"

"How?" Toph asked before Swindle noticed the energon glowing on Sokka's sword.

"That's a fine sword your friend has there," Swindle said. "How about you toss it in, and I'll put up twenty silver pieces against it. Deal?" Sokka was about to say something before Toph immediately grabbed it and handed it over, much to his dismay.

"I'll do it for fourty silver pieces," Toph answered while Sokka's mouth just hung open.

"Alright, fourty silver pieces it is," Swindle responded before shuffling the shells again, this time much faster, and this time, he moved the rock to a secret compartment in his wrist, attempting to remove it from the game, but unknown to even the master Decepti-Con, Toph earthbended it back inside one of the shells in time. She then pointed to the one in the middle.

"Tsk tsk tsk, sorry little girl, but-" Swindle began as he lifted up the shell, but the rock was still there. Swindle just looked at the shell and started stammering, his optics widened and his jaw hanging.

"I won!" Toph exclaimed as she grabbed the money and Sokka quickly grabbed his sword before the four of them went off.

* * *

Back at the Gaang's campsite, the four of them returned with provisions in their arms. Breakaway was laughing all the way there.

"Oh man, you should've seen the look on Swindle's face when he lifted up that shell Toph!" he said. Katara was meanwhile stirring some water in a couldron when Breakaway's laughing startled her slightly and she turned to see the others' new possessions.

"Where did you guys get the money to buy all this stuff?" she asked.

"Toph got us money," Aang answered. "She scammed a Decepticon in town who moves shells around all sneaky-like."

"I guess you could say he got Decepti-Conned!" Sokka remarked, but only Warpath laughed at his joke.

"She used earthbending to win the game," Breakaway explained.

"Ah, so she cheated," Katara responded, not enthused at Toph's actions.

"Hey, I only cheated because he was cheating," Toph argued. "I cheated a cheater. What's wrong with that?"

"Besides, Swindle had it comi-" Breakaway began, only to be interupted by Ironhide.

"SWINDLE!?" he exclaimed. "You mean to tell me a Combaticon's on this planet!?"

"What's a Combaticon?" Katara asked.

"They're a team of five dangerous Decepticon commandos," Ironhide answered.

"Oh come on Hide, it's just Swindle," Breakaway argued. "I'd understand if it were Brawl or Onslaught, but Swindle can't cause much damage."

"I gotta agree with Breakaway," Warpath said. "The only real danger would be if his four Combaticon buddies were with him."

"Still, this isn't something we should make a habit of doing," Katara said.

"Why?" Toph asked. "Because it's fun, and you hate fun?"

"I don't hate fun!" Katara indignantly responded before desperately taking Momo and draping him on top of her head. "See? Fun!" Momo just slided off her head with an annoyed squawk before Aang stood up.

"Katara, I'll personally make you an Avatar promise that we won't make a habit of doing these scams," he said before lifting up his headband to reveal his arrow and bowed to her.

* * *

Apparently Avatar promises aren't worth much though as the second the four of them went back to town, the scamming resumed as Toph used her earthbending to rig a dice game, win a strongman competition and extort a merchant after tricking him into thinking he ran her over with his carriage.

* * *

Back at the campsite, Katara and Ironhide had discovered what the four of them had been doing.

"Look, guys, I don't know if we should keep doing this, something might happen if we keep this up," Ironhide said.

"I don't know what's getting to you Hide, but could you please lighten up?" Toph asked before turning to Katara. "You too sourpuss."

"Oh, I'm sorry, maybe we should be more like you?" Katara responded. "Like some wild child?"

"Yeah, maybe!" Toph responded. "Maybe then, you'd see how great we have it. I mean, look at us! We're traveling around the world, making easy money, having fun, with no parents to tell us what to do."

"Are you doing this because of your parents Toph?" Ironhide asked.

"Probably Ironhide," Katara said. "They were controlling over her, so she ran away, and now she doesn't act like they don't exist. She acts like she hates them, but I don't think she does. I think she just feels guilty."

"I DO hate them!" Toph immediately responded.

"Toph, do you miss your parents?" Ironhide asked, trying to help her friend.

"Look, I ran away to help Aang, okay!?" Toph responded.

"You know what, it doesn't matter," Katara bluntly said. "These scams put us all at risk, and we don't need that."

"She's probably right, we already have Dreadwing after us," Ironhide responded.

"I'll stop when I want to stop, and not when you tell me!" Toph yelled before walking away and earthbending a stone tent, sealing herself away from the others.

"Well, I'm off to spend some money," Sokka said, breaking the tension as he stood up.

"I'll come with you Sokka," Warpath said.

"See you guys later," Sokka said as he and Warpath walked to town.

* * *

When they went to town, Sokka and Warpath went up to fulfill Sokka's dream and bought a messenger hawk.

"I still don't see why we need a messenger hawk Sokka," Warpath said. "We could always just send Breakaway if we want to send a message."

"Yeah, but this is a much safer way if we don't want to get caught by the Fire Nation or the Cons," Sokka said.

"Hmmm..." Warpath said as he placed a hand on his chin. "You do have a point."

"Anyway, Hawky, welcome to Team Avatar," Sokka said to his new pet. "My name's Sokka, and I'm your new owner, and as such, I should warn you that there's already a lemur in our group, so I don't want to see any fighting." He then poked the hawk and...started baby talking at it. "Good wittle messenger Hawky, who's got pwetty feathers?"

"Uh, Sokka, what the fra-" Warpath said, confused, before something came up at the crack of his optic and he used the treads on his feet to roll back to a wanted poster of Toph. "Uh-oh, Sokka!" Sokka then walked back to where Warpath was and his eyes widened when he saw the poster. He immediately grabbed it as Hawky squawked.

"You're right Hawky, this is bad," Sokka said.

* * *

The two of them walked back to the campsite, with Hawky perched on Sokka's shoulder, and walked up to Toph as she sits down, counting money, while Aang and Katara were busy practicing waterbending.

"Toph, when Warpath and I were in town, he found something that you're not gonna like," Sokka said as he unfurled the wanted poster, obviously forgetting something.

"Well, it SOUNDS like a sheet of paper, but I guess you two dunderheads are referring to what's ON the poster," Toph responded, reminding the two of them that she's blind.

"It's a wanted poster, of you," Warpath explained. "They've nicknamed you 'The Runaway.'"

"A wanted poster!" Toph responded, surprisingly with enthusiasm. "That's SO great! 'The Runaway.' I LOVE my new nickname! Is there a picture of me? Does it look good?" Sokka then checks the picture of Toph and holds it beside Toph to check.

"Well, yeah, actually, it does look like you," Sokka said as Warpath also checked the picture.

"Yeah, it actually does," Warpath added.

"But Toph, you're missing the point," Sokka said. "Maybe Katara and Ironhide were right. These scams are drawing too much attention to us."

"Don't be such a worrywart like those two," Toph responded. "Think of it this way, now you have plenty of money to help with the invasion plan!"

"Well, that is true," Sokka responded.

"Yeah, Sokka and I actually had this idea of making armor for Appa," Warpath added, to which Appa awoken from his nap and grumbled slightly before Toph handed Sokka some gold pieces.

"Here's a little extra so you can get a nice map of the Fire Nation," Toph said before she started thinking and handed Sokka an entire bag. "You know what, make it an atlas."

"I do like expensive atlases," Sokka said.

"Of course you do," Toph responded before snatching the poster. "And that's why this wanted poster is going to stay our little secret." She then hid it in her vest before Aang and Katara walked up.

"Sokka, tell me you didn't buy a bird," Katara said.

"Not just a bird, a messenger bird!" Sokka explained. "Now we can send messages all over the world, even to Gran-Gran."

"Wow, how does it work?" Aang asked.

"Hm, uh, I never actually thought about that," Sokka admitted before pointing a random direction. "Hawky: Gran-Gran, South Pole." Unfortunately, Hawky just shook his head in confusion.

"I think he gets it," Sokka said before Momo appears over Aang's shoulder, screaching, and dashes to Hawky to attack him. They wheeled furiously about Sokka's head as he tried to calm them down.

"Hawky, make nice! Bad Hawky!" he shouted as Warpath just laughed at Sokka's misfortune.

* * *

Later that day, Sokka and Toph were returning to the campsite with their arms loaded with money when they saw Ironhide and Katara waiting for them.

"Well, look who decided to join us," Katara said. "Where have you two been?" Off scamming again?"

"Yes, we were," Toph bluntly answered.

"Let me guess, you didn't think what you were doing was dangerous?" Ironhide asked.

"No, I don't," Toph answered.

"Really?" Katara asked.

"Yes, really," Toph responded.

"Well then, what the frag is this!?" Ironhide asked as he held the poster before Toph, once again forgetting something about Toph.

"I DON'T KNOW!" she yelled. " I MEAN, SERIOUSLY, WHAT'S WITH YOU PEOPLE!? **I'M BLIND!**"

"It's a wanted poster of you," Ironhide explained

"Where did you get that?" Toph demanded.

"It doesn't matter where I got it," Katara responded. "The fact is-"

"You went through my stuff!" Toph exclaimed. "You had no right."

"Your stuff was messy, and I was just straightening up and I happened to stumble across it," Katara explained, but she completely forgot that Toph could sense a lie.

"That's a lie!" she yelled. "You're lying Katara!"

"Look, Toph, Katara and I are only doing this to pro-" Ironhide said before Toph immediately knocked the poster from his hands in anger and walked away. "Toph, wait!"

"Or what?" Toph asked. "You'll tell mom over there to send me to my room?"

"I wish he could," Katara bluntly responded before Ironhide had a chance to talk.

"Well you can't, because you're not my mom, he's not my dad, and you're not THEIR mom!" Toph yelled before pointing to the others. "You think it's your job to boss everyone around, but it's not. You're just a regular kid like Aang, Sokka and I, so stop acting like you can tell me what to do. I can do whatever I want!"

"I don't act that way," Katara responded in a chagrined manner. "Sokka, do I act motherly?"

"Hey, I'm staying out of this one," Sokka responded.

"Warpath?" Katara asked.

"I don't even know what it means to be motherly," Warpath admited while shrugging his arms.

"Then what do you think Aang? Do I act like a mom?" Katara asked Aang, who dug nervously at his eye.

"Well, I..." he said before Katara interupted.

"Stop rubbing your eye and speak clearly when you talk!" she ordered.

"Yes ma'am," Aang responded in a chastened manner.

"I can't be around either of you right now!" Toph yelled.

"Well, I can't be around you!" Katara yelled back before the two of them walked away from each other and Ironhide just rubbed his optics while sighing while Hawky just squawked.

"I know Hawky," Sokka said. "Why can't everyone just get along?"

* * *

Later that day, Katara and Toph were still staying away from each other as Aang, Sokka and Warpath observed them when Sokka suddenly got an idea.

"Hey guys, you want to test out my messenger hawk with me?" he asked. "I've got an idea."

"Sure," both Aang and Warpath responded.

"I'm gonna send a note to Katara and say it's from Toph, who wants to apologize," Sokka explained. "Then everyone will be friends again."

"I gotta say, Sokka, you continue to impress me with your ideas," Aang commented.

"Eh, it's a gift," Sokka responded before taking a pen and paper and starts writing a message, before sliding the note into Hawky's dispatch tube when Warpath suddenly remembered something.

"Uh, guys?" he asked, but then Katara got up and shouted to the three of them.

"I know this is from you Sokka, TOPH CAN'T WRITE!" she shouted. "Ugh, you're all driving me crazy!" With that, she walked away.

"I can't believe we forgot Toph can't write," Aang said.

"Yup, we're idiots," Warpath added.

"I guess plan B is, we send a note to Toph pretending it's from Katara," Aang suggested.

"Uh, we're gonna run into a reocuring problem with that Aang, but I have an idea," Warpath said, remembering Toph's blindness this time. "Sorry Hawky, we're gonna have to do this without you. Follow me Sokka." Then he and Sokka got up and walked to Toph.

"Toph, we need to talk," he said.

* * *

The three of them all walked to an overhanging cliff, unaware that Katara was bathing in the pond below and that Ironhide was walking behind them, wanting to join in the conversation.

"So let me guess, you two brought me here to tell me Katara and Ironhide aren't as annoying as I made them out to be?" Toph asked.

"Nah, Katara's pretty much a pain," Sokka said, to which Katara scowled at.

"Yeah, and so is ol Rusty," Warpath added, to which Ironhide scowled at. "But I've never seen him so protective of someone before, let alone a human. He was being over protective because he cared about you Toph. You're his friend. Maybe even his best friend." Toph just let those words hit her before lowering her head in slight shame. Ironhide too hanged his head and decided he would talk to her later and walked off.

"So, what's Katara's excuse?" Toph asked Sokka.

"When our mom died, that was the hardest time in my life," Sokka explained. "Our family was a mess, but Katara, she had so much strength. She stepped up and took on so much responsibility. She helped fill the void that was left by our mom."

"I guess I never thought about that," Toph addmitted.

"I'm gonna tell you something crazy," Sokka warned. "I never told anyone this before, but honestly, I'm not sure I can remember what my mother looked like. It really seems like, my whole life, Katara's been the one looking out for me. She's always been the one that's there, and now, when I try to remember my mom, Katara's is the only face I can picture." Katara meanwhile was overcome with emotion.

"The truth is, both Ironhide and Katara sometimes are kinda overprotective, but that's not always a bad thing," Toph said. "They're compassionate and kind, and they actually care about me. More than my own parents." Katara just lowered her head in sadness.

"Don't EVER tell them I said any of this!" she said to Sokka before punching his arm.

"Hey, my lips are sealed," Sokka said.

"That goes double for you Warpath!" Toph said to Warpath before punching his arm, but then felt a jolt of pain in her arm. "OW! Forgot I can't bend Cybertronian metal!"

* * *

As the sun setted, Ironhide and Katara walked up to Toph.

"Listen, Toph, Katara and I want to-" Ironhide said before being interupted by Toph.

"Hide, stop," she said. "You don't need to apologize. I was the one being stupid. These scams are out of control, and I'm done with them."

"Actually, we weren't gonna apologize," Katara responded slyly. "We were gonna say...we thought of a scam to pull off!" That earned the shock of every other member of the group.

"What?" Toph asked, also slightly shocked. "YOU TWO wanna pull a scam?"

"Not just any scam, the ultimate scam!" Ironhide said before all the other members of the group collapse, stupified.

"What do you say Toph?" Katara asked. "One last scame. You in?"

"You know I'm In!" Toph exclaimed. "Now, what's this idea of yours?"

"It's simple," Ironhide replied. "This wanted poster says you're worth a lot of money. Ten times more than you've made in all your scams. So Katara's gonna turn you in and collect the reward. Then you metalbend yourself out of jail, and we're on our way."

* * *

Back at the town, Toph ran out from the side of the street, away from two firebenders and two Vehicons, towards the statues of Megatron and Ozai that dominated the center of the town, only for a net to engulf her and for the firebenders and the Vehicons to aproach her.

"How could you do this to me!?" Toph yelled at Katara who stood over Toph with an angry glare. "You betrayed me!"

"You brought this on yourself," Katara responded. "I have no choice." She then folded her arms and turned around as Toph was dragged away and the mayor of the town walked up to Katara. She smirked, waiting for the reward to be collected when the mayor suddenly said something.

"Arrest her too!" he yelled. A shocked Katara tried to run before a Vehicon stunned her and dragged her away.

* * *

While that was going on, Toph was in prison and dragged to a cell, but is dragged past the metal cell and thrown in a wooden one instead, much to her dismay as she finds that she can't 'see.'

"Hey, what kind of cell is this!?" she asked in an alarmed state.

"A wooden one," the female guard responded with a wicked smirk as Katara was being dragged inside by a Vehicon.

"We got the other one," he said.

"Throw her next to the earthbender," the guard said before the Vehicon did just that and locked the cell door.

"What's going on!?" Katara yelled, which immediately got Toph's attention.

"Katara!?" she asked in a state of shock. "What are you doing here!?" Then they suddenly heard a slow clapping noise.

"I gotta hand it to you, that was quite a scam you two had in mind, wouldn't you say, little girl?" someone asked in the shadows. Toph's eyes widened as she instantly recognized that voice.

"Swindle!" she yelled before the Combaticon emerged from the darkness.

"Wait, this is the Con you scammed!?" Katara asked her friend.

"Correct Katara," Swindle responded.

"How did you know!?" Toph demanded.

"It's actually quite simple," Swindle responded. "You see, I knew there was something wrong when you bested me in my own game, so I followed you when I least expected it and started piecing together the puzzle. That's when I found you with the Avatar. Now, I knew that going in would be suicide, so I tried formulating a plan, none of which seemed good enough, but then I heard that you were planning a scam, so I decided to have Katara ratted out when I had the chance and have the two of you captured."

"But why?" Katara asked.

"Bait," Swindle responded, which caused the two girls' eyes to widen. "Bait for the Avatar and the rest of his friends to come here and be gutted by Airachnid."

"Who's Airachnid?" Toph asked.

"Well, let's just say that you should stop worrying about Dreadwing and start worrying about her," Swindle responded with a wicked smirk. "Know this, no one can out con Swindle and get away with it." With that he chuckled sinisterly and walked out of the prison.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang, Sokka and the Bots were starting to get worried.

"The scam shouldn't take this long," Ironhide said.

"I was just wondering the same thing Ironhide," Sokka added. "We'd better check it out." Before leaving he turned to Hawky and Momo.

"You two behave," he demanded. "Appa's in charge." Once they left, the two creatures start a fight, but a loud roar from Appa quickly stopped them.

* * *

Back at the prison, Katara and Toph just sat down quietly in their wodden cell.

"I can't believe I was so stupid," Katara said. "See, this is exactly why I'm against these scams. I knew this would happen."

"But...this was your idea," Toph replied, slightly confused.

"I know," Katara admitted. "I wanted to show you that I'm not so motherly. I wanted to show you that I can have fun too."

"Katara, you ARE fun," Toph responded. "If nothing else, you're at least fun to argue with."

"I know your relationship with your parents is complicated, and I shouldn't have said what I said." Katara said.

"It's okay," Toph replied. "I was really mad when you said that because; well, because maybe it's true. I try not to think about it, but when I left, I probably really hurt them." She then starts sobbing and Katara went up to comfort her with a hug.

* * *

While that was going on, the rest of the Gaang walked around the deserted streets of the town, searching for Katara and Toph.

"Where do you think they might me?" Sokka asked.

"Where do ya think ANYONE is?" Ironhide added, but unknown to them, Airachnid was up on a rooftop, observing her targets, and chuckled slightly before leaping to the group. Warpath was the first to notice.

"Look out!" he yelled before the group all ran from Airachnid and she merely landed on the ground. Then a swarm of Vehicons came in and opened fire while some jet Vehicons flew in from above.

"I got the jets, the rest of you protect Aang and Sokka!" Breakaway ordered before he transformed and flew up to the jet Vehicons, opening fire and destroying two of them.

Meanwhile, the others were on the ground, dodging laser blasts when Warpath turned into his tank mode and opened fire at the Vehicons.

"**BLAM! BOOM! ZOWIE!**" he yelled enthusiastically as he trashed Vehicons left and right when Airachnid picked up a dead Vehicon's gun and fired, aiming for Aang, but he leaped to the rooftops and it hit Warpath instead, who turned his turret to Airachnid.

"Shoot me in the back will you? Well, **BAM!**" he yelled before firing at Airachnid, who also leaped to the roofs in persuit of Aang.

* * *

Back at the prison, Katara and Toph heard the ensuing battle outside.

"What are we gonna do!?" Katara panically asked.

"I don't know!" Toph responded. "I wish we had some earth or water. We need bendables!"

"What about the energon Sokka gave you?" Katara asked.

"I left it back at camp," Toph answered. "I was worried they would take it." Katara just sighed in response and wipped sweat from her forehead, but then she just got an idea. She then stood up and started running in place, undoubtably puzzling Toph.

"Um, Katara...are you okay?" she asked.

"Just fine," Katara answered, not stopping.

"Well, what are you doing?" Toph asked.

"I'm makig my own water," Katara answered. Toph then understood what she ment when Katara used the sweat from her forehead to cut the cell bars.

"Katara, you're a genius!" Toph complimented. "A sweaty, stinky genius!"

* * *

Back outside, Aang was leaping across rooftops, trying to outrun Airachnid, when she suddenly shot a web blast from her wrist and it hit Aang, causing him to fly to the statue of Megatron with a web wrapped around him. Aang tried to get out of this trap but it was no use. Airachnid then leaped to the ground and slowly walked to Aang, her extra arms deployed.

"Your skull will make a fine addition to my collection Avatar," she said as she raised one of her arms to finish him off, but then a bolt of ice encased her head, and Katara and Toph went up to Aang and freed him, when Airachnid finally shattered the ice around her head and glared at the group, raising her arms to Toph. Ironhide, who saw the sight, ran up to the group.

"Toph, look out!" he said as he immediately jumped in front of Toph, allowing Airachnid's arm to jab him in the spark, much to Toph's shock.

"**IRONHIDE!**" she yelled as the rest of the group, having finished off the Vehicons, started firing at Airachnid, who turned into a Cybertronian helicopter and flew away. The rest of the group then ran up to Ironhide, who was on the ground, leaking energon like crazy.

"Ironhide, say something!" Toph demanded as tears started flowing from her eyes.

"Come up rusty, don't die on us!" Warpath said, which earned him a glare from Ironhide.

"Shut...up...Warpath..." Ironhide weakly said before his optics closed and he went limp.

"I-is he...dead?" Toph asked, slightly choked up, before Breakaway went up to Ironhide.

"No, just in stasis," Breakaway said. "But if we don't get something to fix him up with, he will be...we have to leave and try and find something to fix him with." With that, the three other Bots picked up Ironhide and walked away from the town as the rest followed them, with Toph consumed with guilt.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	17. Infested

**I KNOW, IT'S BEEN A WHILE, BUT MY GOOD FRIEND WHO WROTE CHAPTER 12 (WHO AGAIN PREFERS THAT I NOT MENTION HIS NAME) OFFERED TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER, AND HERE IT IS. REST ASSURED EVERYONE, THIS STORY WILL BE MAKING A HUGE COMEBACK, FOR I HAVE THE NEXT TWO CHAPTERS ALMOST COMPLETED. AS USUAL, TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 17: Infested

* * *

After allowing both children and the Autobots to escape, both Swindle and Airachnid returned to their master in order to give their report and of course, the lord of the Decepticons was less than thrilled by what they had to say.

"HOW IN THE PITS OF KAON COULD YOU TWO BE SO IDIOTIC!?" Megatron shouted at his subordinates. "Not only did you let the Avatar escape, but you did this little scheme without my knowledge Swindle!?"

"Please my lord, forgive me!" Swindle begged. "I-"

"Silence Swindle!" the metal tyrant shouted. "You went into that human village without my permission just so take their money. Money may I remind you that is completely worthless to our kind!"

"I-I can't help it, I just feel the impulse to take money!" the Combaticon argued. "It's a force of habit!"

"Enough of your whining!" Megatron snarled as he smacked the Decepticon commando to the ground. "The only reason you are still functioning is because you and the other Combaticons play a vital part in our plans for the invasion. Now, get out of my sight at once! And do not even consider doing that little stunt of yours again!"

Without another word Swindle quickly transformed into his vehicle mode and sped off to rejoin his fellow Combaticons. Once the commando was gone, the former gladiator of Kaon turned his attention to warrior he charged with eliminating the Avatar after Dredwing's failure.

"And as for you" he said to Airachnid. "I gave you this mission because I assumed you could take out Avatar quickly and quietly, but instead you managed to lose a squadron of Vechicons and burn down a whole village in the process!"

"It wasn't a total loss my liege," she tried to reason. "I did snuff out the Spark of Autobot known as Ironhide"

Megatron's response to her statement was grabbing the smaller Con by the throat and pinning her to the wall, with a look of pure rage in his optics.

"Even if you did kill Ironhide, which I highly doubt, it would only makes matters worse for us," the Decepticon leader hissed as squeezed her throat. "He is Prime's closest ally, and if he were to die, the Autobots would only fight harder on the day of the invasion in his name!"

The former gladiator then dropped the fem-bot to the ground, letting her fall to her hands and knees.

"The only reason I'm not tearing your Spark from your chest is because the Fire Lord believes you to be useful," Megatron informed her "He requested for you to lead a special Fire Nation naval fleet known as the Southern Raiders. I suggested you take up Ozai's request and leave the Fire Nation before I send you to the scrap yard."

The Decepticon hunter weakly bowed to her master before scurrying out of the base, after the fem-bot had left; Starscream and Soundwave approached their leader.

"This had better be good news Starscream," Megatron growled.

"Unfortunately, no my lord," Starscream meekly replied, already fearing how his master was going to handle what he was about to tell him. "Soundwave has received a distress call from one of our newest energon mines."

"Play the message Soundwave," the warlord growled to his communications officer.

As he was commanded, Soundwave face plate switched on and began to play the message he had recorded. After a few seconds of static the voice of a panicking Vechicon was heard while sounds of a battle taking place and the screams of both Cybertroians and humans could be heard in the background.

"Come in Decepticon headquarters this energon mine number 31, we are under attack by *Static* they're all over the place! The mine is *Static* requesting reinforcements imminently! The mine is infested! I repeat the mine is infested! Send help! *Static*"

The message then faded into static, leavening Starscream confused as to who or what had laid siege to the mines.

"It has to be those blasted Autobots!" the Seeker concluded. "They must have attacked the mine in order to get energon for their dying friend"

"Autobots do not 'infest' mines Starscream," his master corrected. "I suspect we may be dealing with something else entirely."

"Y-you don't mean THEM my liege!" the air commander replied in fear once he realized as to what Megatron was referring to.

"There is only one way to be sure," Megatron said. "We will go to this mine and investigate for ourselves."

"Uh, what do you mean 'we' master?" Starscream questioned in a confused tone.

"Both you and Soundwave are going to assist me in this mission," the metal tyrant answered as he narrowed his optics, much to the hidden dismay of Starscream. "Unless you have a problem with that?"

"None whatsoever master," Starscream said before trying to think of a way out this mission. "But if you're leaving the base, wouldn't it be more reasonable to send someone else with you? You need someone to stay here with Azula and Ozai in order finish the plans for the invasion,"

"That is why Shockwave is staying here and your going" Megatron explained in dark tone.

"Ugh! Shockwave this, Shockwave that!" Starscream exclaimed. "All I ever hear about is how great Shockwave is!"

"Shockwave is an ideal Decepticon Starscream, and I suggest you refrain from another outburst like that again," Megatron responded before walking away. "We leave within the hour."

The seeker grumbled a few unmentionable Cybertronian words under his breath as he walked away. It was bad enough that he had to go on what he considered a suicide mission with his leader, but also being forced to compete for his master's favor with the head of the Decepticon science division. Just then an idea suddenly formed in his head, perhaps this mission could prove useful to him in quest for power and the best part would be that he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty or need Azula's help in the process.

'After all, accidents can happen,' he thought to himself as let out a low, dark chuckle.

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Meanwhile, the Gaang and the Bots managed to get clear of the town before anyone else arrived on the scene. Unfortunately Ironhide was still in stasis mode and the group had to find cover on a cliff side forest several miles away from the town. While the Autobots spoke to one another as the rush to keep their dying commanding officer alive, the humans however stayed out of the way and remained silent in their campsite, fearing the worst for their metallic friend.

"Alright, since none of you jerks aren't going to say it I will!" Toph suddenly spoke up in an upset tone. "It's my fault that Ironhide is like this!"

"Toph you didn't mean to-" Katara tried to reason before the Earthbender cut her off.

"Save it Katara, you and Ironhide were the ones who warned me in the first place and I didn't listen to either of you!" she shot back as tears fell from her eyes. "If I did then Ironhide would still be..."

She wasn't able to finish her sentence as she broke town and started crying. The rest of the kids attempted to embrace their friend in a group hug, but the former Blind Bandit shoved them aside and walked away from the campsite and sat on a rock several feet away from them.

"Let's just give her some time alone," Aang said.

Just then, Breakaway and the other Autobots approached the kids, who all had a look of uncertainty of in their eyes.

"We were able to stop more energon from leaking out of the wound, but it's too early to tell if he'll pull through," the aerialbot informed solemnly.

"(We're just lucky Breakaway had some medical training,)" Bumblebee added.

"I'm no Ratchet, but I do have some experience with first-aid at least," Breakaway replied.

"Speaking of Ratchet, why don't we call him?" Warpath asked.

"You know we can't do that Warpath," Breakaway replied. "We can't get any radio contact with Prime in this world and even if we did, the Decepticons might trace the signal back to us."

"Then tell me what we CAN do?!" the rookie Autobot snapped, making everyone jump.

It was then that Sokka had an idea that could help their situation.

"Hey wasn't there a mine a few miles back that we passed over?" he asked.

"Yeah it was an energon mine, but what's your point?" his robotic companion asked.

"I mean that if it's a mine, then there's bound to be injuries right?" the water tribe boy continued. "And if there's injuries then-"

"(There's medical supplies!)" Bumblebee finished in realization.

"Right! So all we have to do is sneak in there and steal them, then we can patch up Ironhide good enough until Ratchet can fix him up," Sokka explained.

"That's a great plan Sokka," Aang complemented.

"But who's going to go get the supplies?" Katara asked.

"I'll go," the Water Tribe warrior replied.

"I'm with you Sokka," the Avatar added.

"(I'll go with you as well,)" the Autobot scout chimed in.

"I'll stay here. Maybe my waterbending can help Ironhide," Katara said as she handed her brother Bee's translator "And I'll try to talk to Toph as well."

"I have to stay behind and make sure Hide's coordination doesn't worsen," Breakaway added.

"And stealth ain't my thing," Warpath added. "Be careful you guys, we don't want to lose anyone else."

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Sokka replied.

With that Bumblebee transformed into his vehicle mode and let the two humans climb into him before speeding off in the direction of the mines, hoping they would be able to save their comrade's life.

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, Zuko was attempting to enjoy a peaceful evening with his beloved Mai, but after learning about his past and not to mention the growing Decepticon numbers in the Fire Nation, he felt uneasy. Mai could easily that something was up with him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's nothing..." Zuko grumbled back.

"Zuko, I know when your upset, so just tell me what's wrong," Mail replied

He knew he couldn't tell her about his ties to the Avatar, unaware that his girlfriend already had knowledge that the Avatar was alive as well, but he could at least talk about his distrust about his country's new allies, but before he did, he had to make sure that they were really alone and not be heard by a certain robotic hawk. After checking out the room's window he turned his attention back to Mai.

"Do you trust the Decepticons Mai?" he asked his girlfriend.

"Well with a name like 'Decepticons' how can anyone?" she answered bluntly "I'm amazed that Azula and your dad are so gung-ho about working with them. No offense."

"None taken, but you work with Skywarp now and Ty-Lee's with Thundercracker," Zuko added.

"That doesn't mean we like each other Zuko," she replied dully "We only work together because Azula and Starscream made us."

"Good, I needed to hear that," Zuko said with a sigh of relief. "The truth is...I don't trust them either."

"That's smart thinking on your behalf," Mai commented "Do you think they're up to something?"

"I do and I also think we're just a means to an end to them," Zuko answered. "And I'm afraid of what will happen when they no longer need us."

Mai wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's waist and lovingly embraced him, hoping to take his mind off of the Decepticons. The two kissed once more before they both heard the sound of someone slowly clapping their hands together. The prince and his lover turned to see where the noise was coming from and found Azula walking up to them. She was alone, Ravage was not with her this time, but even without her guardian, Zuko and Mai knew that she was still a force to be reckoned with.

"Bravo, bravo, truly a moving moment," Azula began as Zuko and his Mai broke away from another.

"How long have you been-" Zuko attempted to ask.

"Relax Zu-Zu, I just walked in the room only a few seconds ago," Azula replied casually.

"What do you want Azula?" her brother asked sharply.

"I need to have a word with you in private," the princess explained before looking over to Mai. "Private as in, someone named Mai needs to leave the room right now kind of private."

"She doesn't have to leave if she doesn't want to," the prince defended.

"It's fine Zuko, I'll see you later," Mai replied before giving him a quick kiss and leaving the room.

Once Mai had left the room, the siblings began their discussion.

"I'll ask again, what do you want?" the prince demanded.

"I'll get right to the point, Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave are leaving the palace soon to investigate a disturbance at one of the energon mines and I want to know why," his sister explained.

"Then go with them then," Zuko replied "I'm sure Megatron would take you with him."

"I would, but I need to stay here and help plan out the last phases of our defense against the upcoming invasion with Shockwave" Azula responded. "Which is why you're going in my place."

"And why would I want to do that?" Zuko responded.

"Well let's just say that it would be in your best interest if you did," she answered. "Or rather, uncle's best interest."

Zuko knew exactly what she meant by that, back when she defended his false reason for keeping Shockwave from experimenting on the inmates of the Capital City prison. He knew that she had an alternative motive behind helping him and now she intended to get what he owed her.

"You wouldn't," he hissed.

"Oh you know I would," she replied with a wicked grin on her face.

His sister had him cornered. If he refused, Azula would not only tell Shockwave that the prison was his to use as he saw fit, but also tell their father about his true intentions, which would then lead to the Fire Lord not only allowing Shockwave's experiments on the prisoners, but the Fire Lord would make sure that the former dragon of the west would be in the front of the line for whatever the robotic cyclops had in store, along with his eldest child along with him. Zuko had but one option: accept his sister's request.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked in a defeated tone.

"It's simple, just go with Megatron to the mine and find out why he's so interested in it," Azula ordered with a victorious smirk on her face.

With that said, the master manipulator left the room. Her elder brother could only glare at her for forcing him into this situation. A few seconds later, Mai re-entered the room, much to Zuko's surprise.

"So I take it she wanted you to do something for her against your will?" she questioned.

"She wants me to go with Megatron and his top officers to an Energon to find out what their really after," Zuko responded.

"If that's the case then I'm coming with you" Mai said.

"What? No you're not!" Zuko protested. "It's too dangerous!"

"When has that even been a problem for me Zuko?" she replied as she flicked out three of her knives from her wrist gauntlets in order to prove a point. "Besides, I'm not letting you go alone on some unknown mission with the likes of Megatron and his goons."

Zuko knew that he wasn't going to be able to change his girlfriend's mind anytime soon. The only thing he could do was allow Mai come with him on this mission and make sure that she came back alive.

* * *

Back with the Gaang, Katara, Toph, Warpath and Breakaway stayed behind with Ironhide while Sokka, Aang and Bumblebee were away on their mission. The Water Tribe girl was currently trying to heal Ironhide's wounds with her waterbending, but sadly to no avail.

"It was a good try," Breakaway gently said

"My bending helped Bee a little bit when we were trapped under Ba Sing Se," Katara replied "But Ironhide's injuries are to great,"

"You did your best," the aerialbot responded.

"Yeah, and it wasn't enough! Warpath snapped. "I knew this was a dumb idea!"

"That's enough Warpath!" the now commanding officer ordered the rookie. "Katara was just trying to help!"

"Well maybe if she stopped Toph in the first place rather than help her in that stupid scam, then maybe Hide would be okay!" the young solider shot back.

"How dare you put the blame all on her!? As I recall, you were encouraging Toph's behavior as well!" Breakaway retorted sharply.

Warpath narrowed his optics at the aerialbot and clenched both of his metallic fists tightly. He wanted so badly to smack Breakaway across the face, but decided against it since it would do nothing to improve the team's current situation. Instead, he let out a frustrated growl before turning his back to his friends and began to walk away from them.

"Where are you going?" Breakaway questioned harshly.

"I need to get some space," the rookie answered, not turning around. "I can't be around these...humans right now"

Warpath changed into his tank form and drove off from the group, leaving Katara and Breakaway both stunned and saddened by his actions.

"I...I've never seen Warpath act like that," Katara said

"Neither have I, but he was wrong to say those things," the acting officer responded.

"No...he's right" Katara replied sadly. "If I hadn't indulged Toph's actions, none of this would be happening, but I wanted so badly to prove to her that wasn't so motherly all time that I didn't think about the consequences."

"Katara, neither you or anyone else could have predicted that we'd walk right into a trap," Breakaway reasoned "It was a risk and nobody knew that better then Ironhide."

Breakaway's words helped to calm Katara's mind, making her feel a bit at ease, however there still was the matter of Toph to attend to.

"Thank you Breakaway," she replied. "I think I should talk with Toph and help her deal with all this."

"And I'll try to talk some sense into Warpath," the commanding officer added.

"What about Ironhide? Don't you need to stay here to keep a close eye on him?" Katara asked.

"There's nothing more I can do until Sokka and the others return with those medical supplies," he explained. "And even then I don't know if that'll even help..."

Having said that, Breakaway walked away from Kataran and headed in the direction Warpath's treads were going, while Katara looked over to her blind friend who was several feet away and was currently residing within a small stone tent. She wondered to herself how she was going to try to talk to Toph and convince her that everything would be alright even though everything might not turn out to be.

* * *

Back with Zuko and Mai, they were preparing for their mission with Megatron and his Decepticons in Zuko's bedroom. The prince took his broad swords and placed them on his back while his lover strapped on her wrist darts as well as her multiple knives that she had hidden under various parts on her clothing. Along with her usual weaponry, she brought along a blade that she hardly used.

"A Katanna?" Zuko stated. "I've never seen you use a sword before Mai."

"That's because there hasn't been a situation where I did need it," she replied as she sheathed the sword on her hip. "Up until now that is."

"You think it's going to be that dangerous?" Zuko asked.

"Don't you?" she answered. "If Megatron himself wants to personally investigate the mine along with Soundwave and Starscream at his side then this may be bigger than we thought."

Zuko couldn't argue with that. Whatever the real reason for the Decepticon warlord wanting to go to the mine, it surely wasn't because he feared for his or the Fire Lord's men's safety. Meanwhile in Mai's mind, she contemplated whether or not to tell the prince about her knowledge of the Avatar's survival. On one hand there was a chance that he may take information with a calm demeanor, while on the other hand what would more than likely happen would be Zuko enraged at her for hiding this knowledge away from him rather than tell him in the first place.

'Maybe I should hold off just a bit longer until I can find the right time to tell him' she thought to herself.

Just then a Fire Nation messenger entered the bed chamber.

"Megatron and his soldiers have arrived," he informed the two of them. "They are waiting for you in the royal courtyard."

Zuko nodded in acknowledgement before both he and May left his room to meet with the Decepticons that awaited their arrival.

* * *

"Here he comes now my lord," Starscream said to his master as he pointed to the firebender before grumbling. "About time..."

The lord of the Decepticons looked over to where his second in command was pointing and let out a deep growl. He was not pleased with having the boy join them in this investigation. He personally believed that Azula's brother did not have the ruthlessness needed to rule a nation like his father and sister have, however for the sake of the alliance between the two factions, the former gladiator would have to endure the boy's company.

"Welcome Prince Zuko, your sister told me that you wished to accompany us," the mechanical tyrant greeted darkly to the prince before he noticed the girl at his side. "I was unaware that Mai was coming as well,"

"I offered to join," she responded. "I figured you wouldn't be opposed to more help on this mission."

"I believe Mai and Prince Zuko are in what the humans call a 'relationship' master," the seeker explained to his leader. "She is obviously concerned for his safety and wished to make sure that he would be alright on this mission."

"I see, very well then you may join us," Megatron said "But know this, we Decepticons will not be held responsible for anything that might happen to either of you on this assignment."

"But my father-" Zuko attempted to argue.

"Will know that you died with honor," the warlord interrupted. "But you both are great warriors, so I see no chance that happening"

Zuko didn't know what angered him more, the fact that Megatron did not care whether or not he or Mai survived this mission, or that he knew that his father would not feel any sadness or grief if he truly did perish. However, Zuko could not afford to let this bother him, so he put it out of his mind and focused on the task at hand.

"Soundwave, open a ground bridge," the metal tyrant ordered.

With just a mere wave of his hand, the communications officer opened a swirling green portal in the center of the courtyard, much to the human's surprise.

"Shall we then?" Megatron asked the two lovers.

Zuko and Mai gave him a simple nod before walking through the portal alongside the Decepticons, ready to face whatever was on the other side.

* * *

At that very moment as Zuko, Mai and the Decepticons entered the ground bridge portal in order to reach the Energon mine, Aang, Sokka and Bumblebee had also arrived at their destination as well. The trio stopped on the side of hill several yards away from the mines in order to formulate a plane to steal the medical supplies for their dying friend. The two boys then climbed out of the scout, allowing him to transform into his robot form.

"Alright guys we need to make this a quick snatch and run job," Sokka began. "Bee, I want you to make a distraction, so the at least the Vechicons will leave their posts. Aang and I can handle the Fire Nation guards. Then I'll find a med-kit and then we'll split."

"(Actuality, you should let me carry the med-kit Sokka,)" Bumblebee mentioned. "(Cybertronian tools are too big for a human to carry, no offense.)"

"None taken, just means less for me to carry when we're running for our lives," Sokka answered.

"I don't think the guards will be a problem," Aang spoke up as he looked down from the hill.

"Why's that Aang?" Sokka asked.

"You need to just see it to believe it," Aang replied.

The swordsman and the Autobot looked over to the mine and where shocked by what they saw. The mines facilities where torn to shreds, the energon carts were knocked over and empty and the body parts of dead Vechicons littered the ground, along with the lifeless bodies of Fire Nation troops and their blood as well.

"Who could have done this?" Aang asked, completely horrified by the sight below.

"I...I don't know..." was all Sokka could say before looking up at his mechanical friend. "What about you Bumblebee, any ideas?"

"(Not at the moment, although this destruction looks very familiar to me,)" the scout replied before activating his wrist cannons "(But whatever did this, it might still be down there so we need to be extra careful.)"

"Great, some unknown force just trashed an entire mine base and were going down there and are more than likely gonna to have to fight it," the swordsman groaned in frustration. "Is there anything else that can make this worse?"

"(Yeah, them!)" Bumblebee quickly answered as he pointed to a ground bridge portal that opened up right next to mining facility and the occupants that emerged from it.

As if the universe once again wanted to play another one of its cosmic jokes on the water tribe warrior, the Decepticon warlord, along with his top two officers stepped out of the gateway, followed by Zuko and Mai close behind them. Needless to say, Sokka was not pleased by these new circumstances.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me!" he exclaimed. "Megatron, Soundwave and Starscream are here! Not to mention Zuko and Mai are with them! Can't we just catch a break just for once!?"

"(If Megatron's here with those guys, then whatever happened here is bigger than we thought,)" Bumblebee said. "(You two stay here, I'll try to sneak in and get what we need and get out,)"

"No way Bee, it's too dangerous for you to go down there alone," Aang commented. "We're coming with you."

"Aang's right, we're a team and we need to stick together," Sokka added. "Let's just try to avoid getting caught, there's no way we could take on all five of them at once."

"(Agreed, let's move out,)" Bumblebee ordered as he and his two human allies headed down the hillside.

* * *

Megatron and his search party surveyed the chaos. The entire site was ruin and the energon was completely picked clean. The former gladiator's suspicion as to what did this grew as he noticed the teeth marks on the buildings and how his soldiers were torn apart. Zuko on the other hand was heartbroken at the sight of his nation's citizens lying dead where they stood.

"Sure a waste..." Starscream mentioned coldly as he inspected the bodies.

"Is that all you can say!?" Zuko snapped at the seeker. "These men had friends and families! How dare you insult them!"

"Now see here you little-" the seeker attempted to retaliate.

"Enough!" Megatron commanded. "We are here to fight the enemy, not each other. Is that understood?"

"Yes...master" the seeker replied under his breath.

"Good," his master simply said before looking over to his communications officer. "Soundwave, scan the area for anything alive. There may be a survivor we can question."

"Or whatever did this," Starscream added on.

Upon hearing his orders, Soundwave began to scan the area for any signs of life in the vicinity, however his face plate showed nothing was alive.

"There's nothing here," Zuko said.

"Maybe what did this moved on?" Mai asked.

"Or perhaps..." the warlord began as he looked over to the mine. "...they went into hiding,l"

"What should we do now?" Zuko inquired.

"Soundwave, you and Mai will stay on the surface and hold this position," the tyrant ordered. "Starscream and Zuko will accompany me into the mine. I believe we will find our answers there."

And so, the group of killers broke up into two groups; each ready to complete their assignments with deadly force if necessary.

* * *

"(Looks like Megatron's going into the mine with Zuko and Starscream,)" Bumblebee informed his friends as they were now getting closer to the mining base.

"So that just leaves Soundwave and Mai to deal with," Sokka contemplated "It looks like the odds may be in our favor,"

"(Not likely, Soundwave is one of the most dangerous Decepticons in Megatron's army,)" the scout explained. "(I'd rather not take him on by myself.)"

"And Mai is pretty dangerous herself," Aang also added. "And what's to stop them from calling on Megatron and the others for help?"

"Good point, let's just stick to the plan and get out," the water tribe warrior told his friends. "Remember guys, Ironhide's life is at stake here"

The trio finally reached the mine, moving swiftly from building to building as they tried to find the much needed medical supplies, however their actions did not go unnoticed by the all-seeing Decepticon.

"Find something?" Mai asked, only to watch Soundwave walk away from his post and into the mining base itself without a single word. "Why do I even try?"

Back with the Gaang, Aang and Sokka rummaged through an empty building for their objective while Bee searched in another building.

"Find anything yet Sokka?" Aang asked in a whisper.

"No, I've got nothing," Sokka answered in a louder tone. "How hard is it to find a single med-kit!?"

"Ssh, keep your voice down!" Aang warned as he covered his mouth. "Soundwave might hear you."

Suddenly a knife soared in between the two boy's faces and into the building's wall. The duo turned to look at the doorway and saw Mai standing there with Soundwave standing right behind her.

"It's a little late for that," she casually informed them.

"We don't want to fight you," Aang told her as he and Sokka prepared themselves for battle.

"I'm not in the mood to fight you either," Mai replied. "So just surrender and this won't turn into a bloodbath."

As Aang and Sokka kept the villainous duo's attention on them, Bumblebee attempted to sneak up on the Decepticon officer and take him out quickly, but just as he was about to spring his trap on his enemy, Soundwave spun around and punched Bee into a building. It was then that Sokka and Aang launched their attack on Mai. Sokka drew his energon blade and brought it down on her, only to have it blocked by her own sword.

"You're not the only one who know how to use a sword," she said before knocking her adversary back.

Just then, Aang fired a blast of air at Mai, knocking her backwards into the building's wall. Mai retaliated by launching her wrist darts at the young Avatar who quickly deflected them with his air-bending. Mai then rushed toward him with her sword at the ready. She swung her blade at Aang, who tried to evade the weapons, but was cut across the arm by the blade. Sokka rushed in again and clashed blades with her.

"I've got this Aang, go help Bee!" he ordered his friend before locking swords with Mai again.

As much as Aang didn't want to leave his friend alone in a fight, he knew the Autobot needed his help in his battle against Soundwave, and that fact couldn't be truer when Aang watched Soundwave throw his robot friend to the ground. The Avatar then pulled a massive bolder from the earth and hurled it at the Con's back, knocking him off balance, easily getting his attention. Soundwave shot two metal tentacles from his chest at the Avatar, who leaped out of the way at the last second. Aang kept dodging the tentacles, while Soundwave himself continued his battle with Bumblebee.

Suddenly, Soundwave's face plate switched on to show an digital map layout of mining base and four red dots that were flying toward the base and in their direction specifically. Soundwave knocked Bee aside and halted his attack on Aang before looking up at the sky, confusing Aang and Bumblebee. Just then, a faint buzzing sound was heard. At first it was low, but in mere seconds the buzzing grew so loud that it made Mai and Sokka forgot their duel and run outside to try to find the origin of the buzzing. All five of them, looked up into the sky, almost completely forgetting their battle entirely to see what was coming for them. The four life signatures that Soundwave detected looked like large robotic beetles. They landed on the ground and surrounded the group. Sokka noticed the fear in Bumblebee's optics at the sight of these creatures and felt the fear in him rise as well.

"Wh-what are those things?" he asked in horror.

"(There Insecticons!)" The Scout answered in fear. "(We're in some serious trouble now!)"

* * *

Katara slowly approached Toph's earth tent. Even though the tent was made of stone, the water bender could still hear the younger girl sobbing her eyes out. She tapped on one of the stone walls in order to get her friends attention.

"Go away!" she shouted through the earth tent.

"I just want to talk Toph," Katara offered.

"Well I don't want to!" Toph shouted back. "So leave me alone!"

"That's not going to happen and if I have to talk to you through this rock then so be it!" Katara said sharply. "None of us knew that we were going to walk into a trap when we pulled that scam."

"But you told me that something like this would happen!" the Blind Bandit replied. "And what if it wasn't Ironhide that was hurt, what if it was Sokka or Aang or one of the other Bots? If they had been injured or worse it would've been my fault just like it's my fault with Ironhide!"

"I know what it feels like to have someone you love taken away from you, it feels like a void forming in your heart." Katara explained solemnly. "But Ironhide is still here with you."

The walls on the earth tent came down to reveal Toph, who's pale eyes had tears running down her cheeks and her face full of anger.

"And what if he doesn't make it, huh?!" she snapped as he advanced toward her friend. "What if he dies before Aang and the others don't get back here in time?"

"They'll be back, I promise you," Katara reassured. "And when Ironhide wakes up, you'll be the first person he'll want to see."

Toph didn't say a word. Instead she threw her arms around Katara in a tight embrace, to which she returned the hug and allowed the girl to weep once again.

"It's going to be okay" Katara soothed.

Just then the two girls heard the sounds of a battle raging a few yards away from where they were standing. They put aside their emotions and prepared themselves for an attack, ready to defend their dying friend. The unseen battle raged on for several minutes until it suddenly stopped and all became silent. Out of the darkness, two massive figures emerged from the shadows and approached the benders, however these were not enemies that stood before them, instead they were their allies.

"Warpath? Breakaway?" Katara asked, stunned at the sight of the two dented up Autobots. "What happened to you two?"

"Well like I told you earlier Katara, I went off to try to talk some sense into Warpath," the aerialbot informed her "But he wouldn't listen, so instead I spoke to him in a language he understood pretty well."

"Wait a second, you two were the ones fighting!" Toph said in bewilderment.

"Yeah we beat the slag out of each other," Warpath replied. "And when all my anger was out of me, then I listened to what Breakaway had to say, which reminds me..."

The rookie solider knelt down and bowed his head to the two girls in an apologetic fashion.

"I'm sorry for what I said about you two, I was angry and I just wanted an outlet and it was wrong of me to pour it on you both," he said "Can you forgive this bot?"

"Of course Warpath," Katara answered gently as she touched his massive hand. "After all, we're family."

* * *

"Ugh, what a mess," Starscream sneered in disgust at the sight of the lifeless bodies that were scattered all over the tunnel. "I would've hated to be down here when this started."

"Silence Starscream!" Megatron cut in. "Do you want to alert whatever's down here to our position?"

'Say's the one who's currently yelling at me,' the seeker thought to himself.

Zuko remained silent during the entire trek through the mine. While her didn't show it, he was overcome by sadness at the sight of the dead Fire Nation workers that were stung all over the ground around him. He sent a glare in Megatron's direction which went unseen by him. This needless bloodshed was on his hands as well as Zuko's father for allowing this whole thing to be built. As the prince inwardly cursed the Decepticons, the former gladiator stopped dead in his tracks, making Zuko and his second in command halt as well.

"Were being watched," he hissed.

"What!? Are you sure my lord!?" Starscream nearly exclaimed in a panic before receiving a snarl from his master. "O-of course you are."

"By what?" Zuko inquired as he drew his broad swords.

"We must persue," was the only answer the wicked Decepticon leader gave before he continued walking.

The two of them said nothing. Instead they followed their leader, all the while they kept their eyes peeled for even the slightest movement in the darkness of the mine. Further into the mine, Zuko and the two Cons entered a large open space within the mine, where they found three large purple and black robotic insects clinging to the sides of the wall. The insects looked like giant versions of a Hercules Beetle, a Stag Beetle and a Grasshopper. The three creatures flew down to the ground in front of the search party, and to Zuko's surprise, transformed into robots like the Decepticons.

"Well look who it is-is," one of the insects said to his brethren. "Long time no see Megatron-tron."

"What are these things?" Zuko questioned.

"They are Insecticons," Megatron answered, not turning is cold gaze away from the other robots. "These three here are named Shrapnel, Bombshell and Kick-Back and they are not to be trusted."

"You're the one to talk Megatron!" the one called Bombshell accused. "You're the one who tricked our entire race into that ship and launched us into space mega-cycles ago!"

"What is he talking about?" Zuko questioned.

"Long ago during the war for Cybertron, the Insecticons were used as shock troops and sentries by our faction," Starscream explained. "However, they eventually they became to unruly to control, so lord Megatron tricked them all into a cargo ship, telling them that they going a colonization mission. They were then sealed in hibernation pods and sent off world. They must have crash landed on your world eons ago."

"They were supposed into sent into a black hole," the warlord mentioned harshly as he glanced over to his second in command. "But obviously someone made a mistake!"

"And you knew what was down here the whole time didn't you!?" Zuko shouted in rage toward Megatron. "That's why you wanted to come here personally!"

"I had my suspicions," Megatron simply answered before looking back to the newcomers. "How were you awakened?"

"We slept down here for so long," Kick-Back answered. "But then a mining team hit our ship and awoke the three of us and several of our brothers from hibernation. We feasted on every last scrap of energon we found and killed anyone who stood in our way"

"You will pay for what you have done!" Zuko shouted as he readied his swords for combat.

"Silence boy!" the metal tyrant snapped at the human before looking back to the Insecticons. "And as for you three, despite the loss both life and energon here, I still may have use of you and your swarm, serve me once again and I shall let you feed to sparks content."

"And if we refuse-refuse?" Shrapnel questioned.

"That would not be in your best interest," Megatron answered, activating his wrist sword. "What is your answer?"

"Here's our answer!" Bombshell said before he and his allies transformed. "Insecticons, kill them all!"

* * *

Meanwhile back Aang and the others; the Insecticons that had found them attacked them. Soundwave leaped into the air and transformed into his drone form as one the Insecticons transformed back into its bug form and chased after him into the sky while the other three fought with rest of humans and the Autobot on the ground.

"There are robots that can turn into bugs too!?" Sokka blurted out as he drew his sword again. "Is there anything you guys can't turn into!?"

"(Not that I'm aware of!)" Bumblebee commented as he ran at one of their enemies.

"We need to work together if we're going survive this!" Aang called out to his friends before throwing a set of large stones into one the Insecticon's face before looking over to Zuko's lover. "Mai, are you with us?"

"Well I'm not against you right now," she replied as she dodged an Insecticon's fist that came down on her.

The Autobot scout fired his wrist cannons at the robotic bug that was also charging at him, but guns didn't so much as even phase the beast as it kept coming. It swung its claws at Bumblebee, who ducked at the last second and delivered a strong uppercut to the monster's lower jaw and kept it up by sending the creature tumbling backwards into a building with a roundhouse kick to the chest.

"Can't you talk some sense into these guys Bee?" Sokka asked quickly before evading the claws of one of the giant insects.

"(Why would they listen to me?)" Bee responded, confused.

"Well you names Bumblebee, maybe they'll think you're a distant cousin or something!" Sokka called back as he slashed at the leg of the bug he was fighting.

"(That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard!)" The Autobot scolded as he fired his cannons his opponent, who was getting back to its feet.

"Well I'm open to suggestions!" the water tribesman shouted before leaping out of the way of a Insecticon's foot.

Back with Mai and Aang, the duo avoided the Insecticons' claws. Aang took the ground out from the beast's feet with his earth-bending, knocking him to the ground. While their enemy was down, Mai took her sword and impaled it through the monster's single optic. It cried out in pain and jumped back to its feet, snatching up Mai as it did. She struggled to get free of its grasp, but to no avail as it brought her toward its awaiting jaws. Luckily, Aang formed a massive spike of stone and fired like a missile right through the monster's head, killing it instantly. It released its hold on Mai before falling lifelessly to the dirt, making her fall to the ground below. Aang used his air-bending to leap into the air and grabbed her before she fell to her death and set her gently down on the ground.

"Um, thanks," was all she could say.

"No problem," Aang replied.

"If you two are done chatting, could you give me a hand over here?" Sokka exclaimed as he ran away from the Insecticon that was chasing him.

Mai glanced up at a nearby building and formed a plan in her head.

"Can you give me a boost to that building?" she inquired as she pulled her sword out of the dead Insecticon's optic. "I have an idea."

Aang nodded in response and lifted her of the building's rooftop with his air-bending. The second Mai's feet touched the ground, she dashed along rooftop and aimed herself alongside the giant bug. With all of her strength, she jump from the building and unto the beast's head. The monster thrashed its head violently to try to shake her off, but Mai held on tightly to one of its antenna. Mai then took her katanna and with all her strength plunged it right into her target's head. The monster thrashed around more, but Mai kept digging her blade deeper and deeper into it's head until she broke her sword in the creature's skull. It was then that the creature finally died. The Insecticon's body collapsed at Sokka's feet, allowing Mai to step off its body ever so casually. It was as if she hadn't single handedly slain a monster just seconds ago.

"Um, is there any chance we could convince you to join our side?" the swordsman asked, dumbfounded.

"Only if Zuko joined you," she answered.

Back with Bumblebee, he was still dealing with the third robot bug. He jumped backwards and fired more rounds at his opponent. The metallic monster ignored the bolts of energy and snatched up the scout by the throat and slammed him down unto the ground and held up its free claws into the air, ready to bring them down on Bee's head, however, the Insecticon suddenly felt something touch the underside of its jaw, it didn't realize it until the last second that it was the Autobot's wrist cannon.

"(Eat this!)" he shouted before firing his gun.

The giant mechanical bug's head exploded thanks to the gun's rounds. Bee rolled out of the way before the dead Cybertronian's body fell on top of him. The scout then looked and saw Aang and Sokka running up to him and saw Mai with them. He instinctively aimed his cannons at his human enemy.

"Wait, it's cool be she's on our side...kind of," Sokka explained.

The group then remembered that there was the matter of Soundwave to deal with and looked up to see him still in a dogfight with the fourth Insecticon.

"That won't keep him busy for much longer," Mai informed the others. "I'm assuming you guys came here to find stuff to help your friend right?"

"Yeah, but how did you-" Aang tried to ask.

"Azula mentioned something about a dying Autobot yesterday," she interrupted before pointing over to a building on the edge of the mining base. "I think I saw Cybertronian med-kit in that building over there when Soundwave and I were looking for you earlier."

"Why are you helping us?" Sokka questioned.

"Like I said, I'm not in the mood to fight you," she mentioned with a sigh as she looked over to Bumblebee. "Or him for that matter."

"But won't Soundwave know you let us escape?" Sokka asked.

"He will if you guys don't get out of here!" she warned them.

With that, Sokka and Bee ran toward the building that Mai showed them, while Aang bowed in respect to her, who merely gave a tiny nod in response to the gesture. The Avatar then quickly ran after his friends to the building and helped gather up the supplies they needed to repair Ironhide and escaped within Bumblebee.

Back with Soundwave, his battle with the Insecticon was starting to become tiresome to him. True his weapons hardly damaged the monsters hard shell, but still in all honesty; he was hardly putting any real effort in fighting this brutish machine in the first place. It was then that the master of espionage decided to end this battle. He rose higher into the sky, baiting his foe to follow him. Just as he reached above the clouds, Soundwave opened Ground Bridge to a location of his choosing in front of him before turning hard left. The Insecticon was not as agile as his prey was and flew right into the portal, sending him right where Soundwave wanted him: the surface of the Sun.

Mai watched as his 'partner' flew back down to the ground and transformed into his robot form. He looked down at her, as if silently questioning where the humans and the Autobot had gone.

"If you're wondering about those others guys, they got away," Mai answered

Soundwave of course said nothing and walked away from the human in order to patrol the area. It was then that Mai turned her attention toward the mine itself, hoping that her beloved was alright.

* * *

While that was going on, Megatron, Starscream and Zuko were still locked in combat with Shrapnel, Kick-Back and Bombshell. The former gladiator fought Bombshell, Shrapnel fought the seeker and Kick-Back battled the prince.

"Ha, what do you think you can go against me human?" the giant grass-hopper boasted.

"This!" Zuko shot back as he fired a blast of fire right to Kick-Back's face.

Kick-Back screeched in pain as the heat stung his face before he stumbled backwards into a wall. Zuko kept up his attack by launching a volley of fire-balls at his torso, scorching his metal skin. The fire-bender ran up the Insecticon's leg and climbed up the machine's chest, all the while dodging Kick-Back's hands which were trying to swat him off. He reached the robot's face and once again launched another blast of fire right into his optics, temporarily blinding him. Kick-Back tumbled to the ground in agony. Zuko drew his broadswords and aimed them at his giant enemy's face.

"I-I submit!" he whined.

"Good answer," Zuko growled.

Suddenly Kick-Back smacked the boy off of his chest on on to the ground. Zuko barely had time to roll out of the way of giant Grasshopper's fist before it crushed him.

"Like a human like you could beat me!" he taunted.

Over with Megatron, his battle with Bombshell was intense, the two went blow for blow in their battle. Bombshell punched the warlord hard across the face, but his enemy responded by delivering a strong uppercut. The beetle stumbled back before correcting himself and tackling Megatron.

"Do you know how many gladiators I killed in the pits of Kaon?" Bombshell questioned darkly as punched the tyrant in the gut.

"Not as many I did" Megatron retorted as swiped at his opponent with his sword, slicing off one of his fingers.

Bombshell cried out in pain at the loss of his lost digit, allowing Megatron to kicked him to a rock wall and pummel him with his bare fists. The Hercules beetle caught one of his attacker's fists and sucker punched him in the face. The warlord of Kaon snarled as he began to fire his fusion cannon in a blind fury, while the Insecticon transformed into his bug from and once again tackling Megatron, who quickly knocked him off. Before Bombshell could recover, the warlord stomped on his chest.

"I believe re-negotiations are in order now," he hissed at Bombshell as he aimed his cannon just inches away from his face.

While Zuko and Megatron where busy handling the Insecticons they were fighting, Starscream on the other hand was trying to avoid Shrapnel's steel crushing pincers, all the while screaming like a helpless child.

"Leave me be you brute!" he ordered in a frighten tone before transforming into his jet form and flying out of the of the battlefield.

His master notices this act of cowardice and of course did not take it lightly.

"Starscream, you dare to abandon me!?" he shouted.

He then focused his fusion cannon on the deserter and fired several rounds at him. However one of the bolts hit a weak point in the cave, causing it to quickly break apart around them at an alarming rate.

"You fool, you've killed us all!" Bombshell scolded.

As everyone shambled to find an exit out on foot, the seeker double-timed it out of the mine shaft as it collapsed around him. He went full speed out of the mines opening just seconds before it fell in on itself. He then transformed back into his robot form and couldn't help but cackle at his master's apparent demise.

"Oh this is too good!" he cheered. "Megatron and that useless human are gone and the best part is, I didn't have to do a thing! Farwell Megatron, may you rust in piece!"

Just then he saw both Soundwave and Mai rush toward the scene of devastation being the deceiver that he is, the seeker switched his emotion from happiness to an instant fake sight of despair.

"What happened!?" Mai shouted in horror.

"Oh it was terrible!" Starscream faked sobbed as he feel to his knees to sell the part. "We ran into Insecticons and a fight broke out, then those filthy roaches blew up the mine with a bomb! I tried to save lord Megatron and Prince Zuko, but it was too late!"

Mai could barely believe what she was hearing was true. Zuko couldn't be dead. A simple mine collapsing could not kill her beloved, he was too strong for that, but as she looked at the piles of rocks that now blocked the entrance, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Zuko...no..." she wept as she fell to her hands and knees.

"I am truly sorry for your loss my dear" Starscream said softly. "Come...let us leave this awful place. Soundwave, open a ground bridge..."

Soundwave did what he was ordered and opened a doorway back to the Fire nation Palace. As they left the horrid scene through the portal, the new leader of Decepticons grinned evilly to himself. It was all his now and no one would take it away from him.

* * *

Meanwhile with the Gaang and the bots, Breakaway began applying the tools to from med-kit that Aang and the others had found the second they arrived with it. Once again the kids sat on the sidelines as the Autobots followed the aerialbot's orders. Even though they had the proper supplies now, it was too early to tell if would help Ironhide at all at this point. After almost two hours of hoping and praying, Breakaway walked over to Toph.

"Toph..." he began gently. "There's someone who wants to see you."

The earth-bender nervously followed the Autobot over to where Ironhide's body was laying and heard an all too familiar voice.

"Hey kiddo..." it greeted in a weak, yet warm tone.

"Ironhide!" she shouted in joy as she ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his large neck "Your okay!"

"It'll take more than a little scratch to take me down," he replied as he gently put one of his hands gently on her back. "Besides who said you can win this war without me?"

Suddenly, Aang, Sokka and Katara also ran up to the still wounded Bot and gave him a group hug.

"Alright, alright cut that out!" he growled as he gently pushed them off of him. "You kids better not go soft on me!"

"Yep, he's back" Warpath chuckled.

* * *

While it was a happy ending for the day with the Gaang, the same however, could not be said for Mai. She had just lost her greatest love and now she had to report his death as well as the death of Megatron alongside Starscream to Ozai and Azula.

"It is a tragic loss Fire Lord Ozai," the seeker said solemnly "But rest assured your son died fighting those monsters to his last breath alongside my late master"

"That is...unfortunate" the Fire Lord replied, as if he didn't care.

"Unfortunate!? Is that all you can say!?" Mai snapped, show a great deal of anger. "He was your son and you don't even care that he's dead!?"

"Hold your tongue girl!" Ozai commanded.

Mai glared at the farther of her deceased love and turned away from him before storming off.

"Despite these losses, we must press on," the current leader of the Decepticons added. "It's what my former master would've wanted."

Suddenly, the palace doors flew open and much to Starscream's horror, in stepped a pair of warriors that all of whom thought to be dead, while Mai was in complete disbelief at who had just walked through those doors.

"Zuko!?" Mai exclaimed in disbelief.

"L-Lord Megatron!" Starscream stammered out in terror.

The Megatron and Zuko limped into the throne room. Both were badly cut up and each had a look of pure fury on their faces and their eyes were locked dead on Starscream.

"You're alive!" Mai cried happily as she ran up to the prince and embraced him tightly.

"Praise the Allspark, it's a miracle!" Starscream exclaimed, trying to hide his fear.

"Oh it will be a miracle indeed Starscream..." Megatron replied before snatching up his second in command by the throat, lifting him into the air "If you survive what I have planned for you!"

"How did you survive the cave in?" Azula wondered.

"We were stuck under several piles of rocks, but we managed to dig our way out after being trapped underground for several hours with some help," Zuko answered before looking over to Starscream. "And he left us to die!"

"I swear that was not my intention!" Starscream yelped. "The mine was completely demolished, I thought you both perished!"

"Silence!" his master barked "I will deal with you in private"

The seeker begged and pleaded with his commanding officer as he dragged him out of throne room, but his cries went unanswered as he was dragged to the Decepticon base to be taught a lesson he would not soon forget. Once the Cons had left the room, all the attention went back to Zuko, who was hanging unto Mai for balance at this point.

"So what did you find out brother?" Azula inquired.

"See for yourself, it's right outside the palace," he said before Mai helped make his way to his bedchamber. "Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to rest."

"Sleep well my son," Ozai mentioned without a hint of care that his child had just gone through a near death experience.

With that, Zuko and Mai left the throne room and allowed for his father and sister to see what he was talking about. When they walked outside they were in awe at the sight of hundreds of massive robotic insects crawling all over the palace. Just then three of the insects approached the fire lord and his daughter. They then transformed into a trio of robots.

"The Insecticon hive is at your command Fire Lord Ozai," Bombshell informed him.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	18. The Day of Black Sun part 1

**DISCLAIMER: TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 18: The Day of Black Sun part 1

* * *

To say that the days leading up to the invasion were eventful would be a slight understatement. First the group ran into some crazy old lady who taught Katara the arts of bloodbending, then a mere two days before the invasion Aang experienced multiple nightmares of his inevitable encounter with Ozai (as well as one where a talking Appa and a talking Momo engaged in a sword fight with a crowd of talking sheep bearing witness...yeah.) And now, today was the day. The invasion. The group had campped out close to the location where Optimus and Hakoda agreed they would meet with the kids and the four Autobots. While they waited, Warpath and Sokka were observing the plans for the invasion one last time. Sokka was obviously anxious and slightly nervous as he wipped sweat from his forehead before Katara handded him a hot cup of tea, to which Sokka accepted. Suddenly Aang leaped up to the group from below before Momo scurried to his shoulder.

"Top of the morning Momo!" Aang exclaimed.

"Sounds like someone slept well," Katara said.

"Like a baby moose-lion!" Aang replied before getting in a battle stance. "I'm ready to face the Fire Lord."

"So what's your strategy for taking him down?" Toph asked. "Gonna get your glow on and hit him with a little Avatar State action?" Aang's once cheerful nature was now replaced with a look of disappointment when he realized something.

"I can't," he responded. "When Megatron shot me, my 7th chakra was locked, cutting off my connection to all the cosmic energy in the Universe." Everyone just looked at him, confused.

"Uh, what?" Warpath asked.

"All I heard was blah blah spiritual mumbo jumbo blah blah something about Space," Toph remarked before the group spotted something foggy near the horizon.

"Sokka, ya think that fog'll delay the invasion?" Warpath asked, slightly concerned, but then Sokka's eyes widened with joy as he spotted something coming out of the fog. Five modified Water Tribe boats, with Hakoda and Optimus on the one in the center, as well as a large Cybertronian ship hovering above them.

"No, that IS the invasion!" Sokka proclaimed with joy.

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

The group immediately went down to the port before Aang and Toph earthbended some docks so that everyone could meet up. The second Hakoda stepped off his ship, Katara and Sokka immediately ran to him with Katara, instantly hugging her father.

"You made it Dad!" Katara exclaimed.

"Were you able to locate everyone I told you to find?" Sokka asked.

"I did, and we also found more Autobots with them thanks to Optimus," Hakoda replied as Prime and Ratchet stepped off the ship.

"It was all Ratchet's doing actually, we would have never been able to find everyone had he not perfected our communications device," Optimus corrected.

"However, I'm a little worried Sokka," Hakoda admitted. "Some of these men aren't exactly the warrior type." Right on que, the swampbenders known as Due and Tho immediately exited the Cybertronian ship, excited and full of energy.

"Whooo-wheee! This place sure ain't nothing like a swamp," Due said before he started to point at a rock. "What'd ya reckon that is Tho? Some sorta exploding Fire Nation exploding trap that would eat ya?"

"It's just a rock Due," Tho answered.

"Well, I'll be," Due responded.

"Is it just me or are those fellas a little loose in the leaf head?" Hakoda asked, slightly skeptical.

"I just wish they would wear pants," Bato remarked.

"Pants are an illusion, and so is death," the third swampbender known as Hue responded while scratching his abdomen. What got the Autobots' attention however was the ship that the swampbenders exited from.

"Is that who I think it is?" Ironhide asked before the ship started to transform into the Autobot guardian, Omega Supreme. The kids' jaws dropped to the floor when they noticed the towering Autobot that stood before them.

"DESIGNATION: OMEGA SUPREME," Omega said in his booming voice when Aang suddenly remembered something.

"You're the guardian that Alpha Trion mentioned, you were damaged in a fight with Megatron, right?" Aang asked.

"ASSUMPTION: CORRECT," Omega answered. Katara meanwhile was trying to overcome the shock she was feeling when someone came up to her.

"Hi Katara," said the earthbender known as Haru. Katara immediately recognized his voice and went to embrace him.

"Haru, it's so good to see you," Katara said. Behind him were the Autobots Cliffjumper, Mirage, Jazz and Prowl as well as Haru's father, Tyro. Aang walked up to the group with Toph and Breakaway so Aang could introduce Toph to Haru and Breakaway could introduce the Autobots.

"Toph, this is Haru," Aang said.

"And guys, these are the Autobots Cliffjumper, Mirage, Jazz and Prowl," Breakaway said.

"Pleased to meet you all, especially you young Avatar," Prowl responded. "Haru and Tyro has told me great things about you, as well as you Katara. Haru has told me that you helped him and his father to take back their village."

"You helped us find our courage Katara," Tyro added. "Now we're here to help you." Suddenly, Toph sensed something, slightly alarmed.

"No way, is that-" she said, getting into a defensive stance before the former earthbending wrestler The Hippo embraced her with The Boulder and the Autobots Bulkhead, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker behind him.

"Hippo happy to see Blind Bandit!" The Hippo exclaimed happily.

"You guys here for a re-match?" Toph angrily asked.

"Negatory," The Boulder responded. "The Boulder and The Hippo no longer fight for others' entertainment. Now, with the Wrecker Bulkhead, we fight for our Kingdom!" Toph's eyes widdened with joy when The Boulder said the word 'Wrecker,' remembering who the Wreckers were.

"Another Wrecker!?" she exclaimed.

"Yep!" Bulkhead responded. "Boulder and Hippo told me about ya kid, and needless to say, you'd make one fine Wrecker!"

"Sweet!" Toph responded with a grin on her face before suddenly an explosion was heard and smoke was coming from one of the boats.

"Five silver pieces says Wheeljack's in there," Ironhide said to Warpath.

"You're on," Warpath responded before they saw, no surprise, the Autobot scientist Wheeljack emerge from the ship, coughing and covered with orange goo. Warpath simply grumbled as he handed the silver pieces to a smirking Ironhide. Shortly after, The Mechanist emerged, coughing and covered in orange goo as well, and then his son, Teo, riding on his wheelchair, accompanied by Pipsqueak, The Duke, and the Autobots Powerglide, Perceptor and Inferno walked off the boat as well, with Inferno trying to put out the fire.

"Was that a new invention?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah," Wheeljack replied. "And surprisingly the capabilities of peanut sauce are quite explosive."

"You're making peanut sauce bombs?" Sokka asked before Pipsqueak, with The Duke on his back, came up, both with peanut sauce covered on their faces.

"They're destructive," Pipsqueak said.

"And delicious!" The Duke added before they licked the sauce from their faces. Momo then jumped up onto Pipsqueak and tried to lick his face to the amusement of both boys who responded by laughing.

"Were you able to complete work on the plans I sent you?" Sokka asked The Mechanist.

"With the help of Wheeljack and Perceptor, yes, and I think the Fire Nation will be quite surprised," The Mechanist responded while Teo rolled up to Aang and took a metal pole like object from his wheelchair.

"Aang, my dad, Wheeljack and I made this for you," he said as Aang took the object and blue wings popped from the sides.

"A new glider!" Aang exclaimed with joy. "This is amazing!"

"We constructed it from some of the strongest metals on this planet," Wheeljack explained.

"And as a special feature, I added a snack compartment," The Mechanist added as he placed his head under a handle and pulls it, causing peanuts to tumble out of the compartment and into his mouth.

"Oh, well, I'm sure that will come in handy," Aang said.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Capital City prison, the warden was busy filing his nails, sitting next to Iroh's cell.

"I bet you're tired to be in that cell old man," the warden said insultingly to Iroh. "Well too bad. You're never stepping outside these walls again." Just then a female guard walked in with a tray of food.

"Breakfast," she said, which caused the warden to stand up and head out the door.

"Careful Ming," he said to the guard. "Don't get too close. His stench will knock you right out." He then cackled like a madman and exited the room while Ming looked at him, annoyed, before walking to Iroh and handing him his breakfast.

"I snuck in some white jade tea," she said to Iroh. "I know you like rare teas."

"Thank you Ming," Iroh said as he takes the cup of tea. "Ever since I was put here, you have been very kind to me."

* * *

Back with the invasion force, the Water Tribe warriors and Earth Kingdom soldiers were having their meals and Ratchet was busy repairing Ironhide's wounds while Sokka, with scrolls in his hand, gulped nervously.

"Don't worry, you'll do great," Hakoda said to his son before Sokka took a deep breath and walked to a platform.

"Good morning everyone!" he said before tripping suddenly and dropping his scrolls. He immediately got up and picked up his scrolls.

"Uh..." he said nervously before begining his speech. "So, as you know today we're invading the Fire Nation. I mean I know you know that...because otherwise why else would you be here?" He then clumsily dropped more scrolls, so he picked them up again and placed them on a board. "The Fire Lord's palace is here." He then pointed to a map...the wrong map. He then nervously flipped through maps. "Uh no, uh wait, uh wait, uh wait," He then finally got the correct map and pointed to it. The soldiers and Autobots just looked at him, confused. "It's here, and uh there's an eclipse today, and Aang's gonna fight the Fire Lord and Optimus' gonna fight Megatron, and the firebenders won't have any fire to use for us so that's good for us and um...I'm sorry, let me start at the beginning." Unfortunately, he meant THE beginning, as he rapidly started talking about what happened, all the way back to when he and Katara discovered Aang.

"Katara and I discovered Aang frozen in an iceberg. Now I didn't like Aang at first but I grew to love him over time. Then we went over to the Southern Air Temple where Aang used to live and then we met Suki, who is a Kyoshi warrior. She made me dress like a woman and then she kissed me-"

"Primus, this kid could give Blur a run for his money," Cliffjumper remarked.

"Wow, when he says beginning, he means beginning beginning," Katara quietly said to Aang.

"-and then Aang's friend was a crazy old man and then Katara got Haru arrested and then now he's grown a mustache and if you look in the front row you can see him-"

"Thank you Sokka," Hakoda said as he and Optimus Prime walked up to the platform and Hakoda reassuringly placed a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "It's okay, why don't you take a break?" Sokka, disappointingly obliged and walked off the platform.

"Let us just clarify a few points for everyone," Optimus said as the group of warriors suddenly took interest.

"Today is the Day of Black Sun, and we want to thank you all for your self sacrifice and your courage," Hakoda said. "There's two steps to the invasion. A naval stage and then a land stage. To gain sea access to the Fire Nation capital, we'll have to get past our first major obsticle, here" He then pointed to an area of the map.

"These are the Great Gates of Azulon, and no doubt the Decepticons have enhanced it with their technologies," Optimus added.

"Next," Hakoda said as he flipped to another map. "We hit the land and we hit hard. We must fight past their battlements and secure the plaza tower. Once we do that, it's up to the royal palace. At that point, the eclipse will begin."

"Excuse me," Bulkhead said while raising his hand. "Isn't the point of this to invade DURING the eclipse? Why invade them  
when the firebenders can still fight?"

"The eclipse will only last 8.3753193 seconds Bulkhead," Perceptor responded.

"And that's not enough time for the whole invasion, and the royal palace is heavily guarded by firebenders and Decepticons, so that's where we'll need the eclipse's advantage the most." Hakoda added. When this is finished, the Avatar will have defeated the Fire Lord, Optimus will have defeated Megatron, we will have control of the Fire Nation capital, and this war will be over!" Everyone immediately cheered for Hakoda, except for Sokka, who still looked downcast.

* * *

Afterward, everybody geared up. Katara waterbended water into her pouch, Toph put on a wrist guard and a Dai Lee like hat,  
Hakoda put on his armor, Appa had his armor put on him, the Autobots charged their weapons, and Aang shaved his head.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zuko stood near his bed, removing the pin that fastened his crown and allowing his hair to fall back. He then removed his armor and set it on his bed before walking to a table and starting writing a letter.

* * *

While that was going on, Sokka just stood on a cliff, looking down at his Water Tribe headgear, when Aang flew up to him with his new glider.

"We've been looking everywhere for you," Aang said. "The boats are ready to leave."

"I messed up Aang," Sokka said, still disappointed with himself.

"What?" Aang asked, slightly confused.

"The invasion plan was my moment of truth, and I completely flopped it," Sokka answered. "I just fell apart." Aang then walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Sokka, that speech wasn't your moment of truth," Aang explained. "That was just public speaking and nobody's really good at that."

"My dad and Optimus are," Sokka responded. "They explained the plan perfectly and inspired everyone, like a real leader should."

"Look, your moment of truth isn't going to be in front of some map," Aang said before pointing to the horizon. "It's going to be out there, on the battlefield."

"You seem so confident about everything," Sokka said to his friend. "How do you know we're going to win?"

"Because I already failed the world once at Ba Sing Se," Aang answered. "I won't let myself fail again."

* * *

Meanwhile, Starscream walked up to Azula's throne to ensure that the plans were in motion for Megatron's downfall.

"Megatron will no doubt be in his throne room overseeing the invasion, and Optimus will likely try to attack him during the invasion," Starscream explained. "So I need you to sneak up behind him AFTER his fight with Optimus is finished and shoot him with your lightning bending."

"I don't need to be explained things like I'm a small child Starscream," Azula coldly replied. "I'm more than capable of doing this little task you require me to do."

"Of course you are..." Starscream muttered under his breath. "Just be ready after the eclipse is over." With that, the seeker walked out of the room, cursing the princess under his breath.

* * *

Back with the invasion force, the five ships, containing the humans and the other Autobots, as well as Seaspray, were sailing at sea while Omega Supreme hovered over them in his ship mode. Bato looked into the horizon with his telescope and saw a statue of Firelord Azulon.

"There they are," Bato said. "The Great Gates of Azulon."

"But I don't see any gates," Warpath said. All that was there was the statue as well as two Predacon dragons to the left and right of the statue of Azulon.

"Waterbenders, provide us some cover," Optimus commanded. With that, Katara and the swampbenders started bending a fog cover big enough to cover the ships and Omega Supreme.

"Keep it up, we're almost through," Hakoda said, but then an alarm blarred as nets were deployed from the dragons' mouths and attatched to Azulon's hands, allowing two nets to block the boats from the Fire Nation. Then the dragons breathed fire at the nets, setting them on fire as Cybertronian turrets were deployed from the bases of the statues. Sokka looked at the sight in disbelief as Fire Nation speed boats which contained firebenders and Vehicons, sped to the boats and the turrets opened fire on the Water Tribe boats.

"Seaspray, buy us some time!" Optimus commanded.

"You got it boss!" Seaspray gargled as he sped to the boats and opened fire while trying to dodge fire blasts and laser fire.

"Omega, take out the turrets!" Optimus commanded the giant Autobot. "Keep an eye out for my signal!"

"YOUR VOICE: HEARD," the titanic guardian said as the turrets in his ship mode opened fire at the turrets.

"Everyone else, below deck, quickly!" Optimus commanded as everyone on the boats went below deck.

"Let's hope Jackie's invention works," Bulkhead mumbled as he went below deck. Once everyone was below deck, Seaspray went underwater as the speed boats approached the Water Tribe boats and the firebenders boarded the boats, but much to their shock, no one was there.

* * *

Underwater, five submarines slipped by the gates with Appa swimming beside them with an air bubble over his head and Seaspray in his robot mode swimming beside him. Unknown to the firebenders and the Cons, the invasion force boarded five submarines built into the ships and detatched them.

"You really outdone yourself this time son," Hakoda said to Sokka.

"Yeah, congratulations Sokka," Toph remarked sarcastically, about to throw up. "You managed to make a worse way of travel than flying and driving." She started to gag before The Duke took off his helmet and offered it to Toph.

"Helmet?" he asked before Toph grabbed it and threw up in it.

"Well I just came up with the idea, The Mechanist and Wheeljack did all the work," Sokka said.

"Maybe, but it was YOUR idea to use waterbending to make the subs sink and float," Wheeljack said, motioning to Katara and Hue waterbending the subs into motion.

"Though your designs were a bit difficult to decipher," The Mechanist said as he pulled out a drawing of a whale with people inside it in a cartoonish style.

"With the limited materials though, there was one problem we couldn't fix," Perceptor explained. "The subs have only a limited oxygen supply, so you'll need to surface for air before we land on the beaches."

* * *

Meanwhile, Ming was delivering a tray of food to Iroh's cell.

"Lunchtime General Iroh," she said before kneeling down and whispering. "And this time, I brought you an extra bowl of rice."

"Thank you Ming," Iroh responded. "Your little gestures of kindness had made my days in prison bearable." He then looked at her, slightly concerned. "I think you should take the rest of the day off."

"What?" Ming asked, slightly confused.

"You don't look well," Iroh responded. "Maybe you should go home and rest."

"No, I feel fine," Ming replied.

"Trust me, it is better that you are not here this afternoon," Iroh said, rather seriously. Ming responded by nodding and reluctantly leaving the room.

* * *

While that was going on, the subs had resurfaced and everyone was getting ready for when they landed in the Fire Nation. The Duke was washing his helmet after Toph had vomited in it while The Boulder and The Hippo were stretching. Meanwhile, the four kids met with each other.

"So, this is it huh?" Aang asked.

"Are you ready for the Fire Nation to know that the Avatar's alive?" Sokka asked.

"I'm ready," Aang responded with determination. Sokka then grasped his arm, wishing him luck, before the Gaang and Momo gathered around for a group hug.

"I hope you kick some serious Firelord butt Twinkle Toes," Toph remarked before Hakoda came up.

"Everyone, listen up," he commanded. "The next time we resurface, it'll be on the beaches. So stay alert and fight smart. Now break time's over, back in the subs." Toph and Sokka walked back inside while Aang and Katara stayed and stared at each other before looking away. They both tried to speek.

"You go first," Aang said.

"We've been through so many things together and I've seen you grow up so much," Katara said. Aang couldn't help but blush slightly. "You're not that little goofy kid I found in the iceberg anymore. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm really proud of you."

"Everything is going to b different after today, isn't it?" Aang asked.

"Yes, it is," Katara answered.

"What if...what if I don't come back?" Aang asked with slight uncertainty.

"Aang, don't say that," Katara replied. "Of course you'll-" Aang suddenly cut her short, much to the surprise of Katara, with a kiss. After a few seconds, they parted and Katara blushed slightly as she looked awat sadly. aang then deployed his glider and flew off as Katara watched him go.

"Katara, what are you doing?" Sokka asked which snapped Katara out of her dazed mood. "It's time to submerge."

"What? Right, I'm on it," Katara responded as she went inside the sub.

While that was going on, Optimus looked upon the sight on the sub next to their sub when Prowl walked to him.

"You seem so confident Optimus," he said. "How do you know we'll win?"

"I don't Prowl," Optimus answered. "No one can predict the future. However, if we don't do this, we'll risk the lives of millions when Sozin's Comet arrives. That's a risk that I am not willing to take."

"I understand Optimus," Prowl responded before he went back in the sub. Optimus looked towards the horizon for a few seconds before walking back into the sub.

* * *

At the same time that was going on, Zuko walked inside Mai's house with his cloak on, holding the letter he had written, before looking at a picture of him and Mai together for a few seconds, then looked away.

"I'm sorry Mai," Zuko said as he placed the letter on the pillow of Mai's bed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang was flying to the Fire Natikon when he hears his stomach growling. He then pulled the handle to allow peanuts to fall into his mouth.

"Whadya know? It did come in handy," Aang said after eating the peanuts.

* * *

While that was going on, Hakoda raised a periscope to look at the surface and saw that the beach was close by.

"Everyone in position," he ordered. "Earthbenders, into your tanks. This is going to be a rough ride." Toph and the other earthbenders got into positionn as the subs approached the gate. An alarm sounded as various battlements shot harpoons at the subs, but Powerglide and Breakaway shot out of their sub and shot at the battlements, taking them out one by one. The subs then swam to some sealed holes in the walls.

"Ready the torpedo," Hakoda ordered as a torpedo encased in ice is loaded by two engineers. "Launch!" Hue then waterbended the torpedoes so they could be shot from the subs and destroy the gratings on the wall. The subs then went through the holes as everyone gets into position to attack. The subs then resurfaced and swam to the beach where a platoon lead by Blitzwing and Astrotrain were waiting.

"Assume positions!" Astrotrain ordered as the firebenders and Vehicons there got ready to attack. The subs then landed on shore and their bases retracted.

"Alright guys, let's go **BLAM!** zing em!" Warpath yelled as he and everyone else ran out of the subs, emitting battle crys, and with caterpillar tanks beside them.

"ATTACK!" Blitzwing yelled as the platoon ran in to attack the invasion force.

* * *

Meanwhile, Megatron was sitting on his throne in the underground Decepticon base, watching the invasion, smirking with his sharp teeth showing, thinking he has things under his control.

* * *

Back with the invasion force, the chaos had begun. Projectiles were thrown left and right from the battlements, multiple Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom soldiers clashed with firebenders and the Autobots were shooting down Vehicons. Powerglide and Breakaway in the meantime were shooting down the battlements, but only two Cybertronian jets wern't enough to take out dozens of battlements, so a truck loaded with rocks made its way through the battlefield, releasing three rocks which Toph, The Boulder and The Hippo used to earthbend at a battlement, destroying it in the process. Blitzwing tried shooting the truck by transforming into his tank mode, but Warpath came in in his own tank mode and shot at him.

"Hey, Blitzwing, **TANK YOU!**" Warpath joked before laughing at his own joke as Blitzwing turned back to his robot mode and fell back.

"Release the tanks!" he commanded before a group of Fire Nation tanks, as well as Vehicons who took the form of said tanks, made their way to the battlefield, shooting at their enemies, but they couldn't stop the caterpillar tanks from crushing a battlement and two Vehicon tanks. More tanks then came in from behind the invasion force when a group of Vehicon tanks surround Cliffjumper, who was surprisingly smirking at his situation.

"You smell what the Cliff is cookin!?" he yelled before replacing his hands with cannons and shot at all the Vehicons with ease, destroying them instantly.

"Nice one Cliff!" Jazz complimented as he kicked down a Vehicon.

"You know what they say Jazz, 'Mess with the Cliff and you get the horns!'" Cliffjumper responded before shooting at more Vehicons. Meanwhile, two of the swampbenders spot a Fire Nation tank coming at them and react by bending water from a truck and use it to slam the sides of the tank causing it to spin uncontrollably and crash into another tank.

"We're a man down!" Tho said as he noticed one of them was missing. "Where in tarnation is Hue!?" They then use waterbending to hurtle a sreaming Vehicon into the water when suddenly a swamp monster comes from the water, blocking the attacks from the firebender tanks, then uses an enlongated arm to rip a Vehicon into pieces and then grabbed a tank and hurled it into a battlement, then Due started surprisingly waving to the monster.

"Hey Hue!" Due said. "Where you been?" Then a hole appeared in the middle of the body, revealing that Hue was inside, controling the monster.

"Communing with nature," Hue answered. "Takes a while to collect this much seaweed." He didn't have time for more small talk with his fellow swampbenders though as he quickly covered his face before a fire blast hit him. Then more firebenders came to the battlefield on komodo rhinos, launching catapults attached to the creatures' backs. Two rhinos then moved in to Sunstreaker who was busy taking out Vehicons and the firebenders on the rhinos threw chains to each other, then used them to trip Sunstreaker and cause him to fall. A Vehicon was ready to finish him off, pointing a laser cannon at him when Sideswipe came in and shot a hole in his spark, then tossed him at an incoming tank Vehicon.

"Need a hand bro?" Sideswipe asked his twin before grabbing his hand and helping him up. The other soldiers on the rhinos in the meantime were charging at Sokka and the Water Tribe soldiers. Sokka went up to one and used his energon sword to slice the soldier's spear in half, then jumped up and kicked the soldier off the rhino, taking control of it, when he spots a group of soldiers surrounding Hakoda.

"Dad, look out!" Sokka shouted. Hakoda immediately responded by blocking a fire blast with his shield as a soldier charged at him with a spear, to which Hakoda blocked, but then a soldier knocked his shield from him. He then got his own spear and knocked the soldier's spear from him and grabbed it. Now with two spears, he uses his weapons to knock away the other soldiers and jumped onto Sokka's rhino when a group of tank Vehicons surrounded him. Then Optimus came in and sliced them with his sword.

"Omega Supreme, now!" Optimus commanded into his comlink before a loud transforming sound was heard and Omega Supreme walked onto the battlefield.

"OMEGA: ACTIVATED," he said as he got his right hand ready. "POWER: OPTIMAL." His giant fingers then spun as energy was produced in his right hand. "MISSION: DESTROY DECEPTICONS." His hand then fired a powerful beam which obliterated any Decepticon that came in contact with it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Megatron observed the sight from a monitor in his throne room, but rather than acting concerned, he smirked sinisterly instead.

"I have been anticipating your arrival, guardian," Megatron said before turning to Soundwave. "Soundwave, activate the energon cannon!" Soundwave nodded in response and started typing on his console.

* * *

Back at the battlefield, Omega was busy blasting Decepticons to Kingdom Come when, from the gate to the Fire Nation capital, a large cannon was being deployed. Omega aimed his hand at it, but was too late as the cannon let out a powerful purple beam of energy at Omega's legs, causing him to collapse into the battlefield, crushing a few Vehicons and soldiers.

"Omega!" Optimus yelled in concern as Ratchet and Wheeljack ran up to him.

"SITUATION: CRITICAL," Omega reported. "CANNOT, CONTINUE."

"Ratchet, Wheeljack, tend to Omega's injuries," Optimus commanded. "Prowl, Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, ensure no firebender or Decepticon can endanger the process."

"Yes sir," Prowl said as he and the other Bots went up to Omega and Optimus went back to slicing Vehicons, when Powerglide and Breakaway were shot down by jet Vehicons, allowing the battlements on the walls to proceed with their onslaught, destroying a truck and a caterpillar tank, as well as taking out Hue's seaweed monster.

"Sokka, we've got to take out those battlements," Hakoda said as he looked at the above situation. "It's our only chance." Sokka looked up to the battlements when he suddenly thought of something.

"I've got an idea," he said before he, Hakoda and Katara got on Appa and flew off with Warpath beside them flying with his jetpack. Sokka then gets out his energon sword and sliced a projectile from a battlement, then Hakoda uses two grenades to destroy another, then Warpath uses his chest cannon to blow up another one, and finally Katara breaks a barrel full of water attached to the side of Appa and bends the water into another battlement, then instantly freezes it. Appa and Warpath then land between two battlements and the three humans dismount off of Appa.

"You three take out that battlement," Hakoda orders while pointing to the battlement on the right. "I've got this one. Watch each other's backs." He then runs towards his battlement while the siblings and Warpath ran to theirs. Warpath then blasted the door to the battlement and Katara immediately freezes the guards inside with waterbending before Sokka climbed the ladder and destroys the catapult with his sword. The trio quickly run out of the battlement before it exploded just in time to see Hakoda enter his battlement through the roof with his club. A fight ensued before something exploded and Hakoda audiably grunted in pain. Katara, Sokka and Warpath impatiently waited for Hakoda to leave the battlement for a few seconds before Hakoda opened the door, holding his side and moaning, staggering a few steps before collapsing.

"Dad!?" Katara exclaimed before she, Sokka and Warpath went up to Hakoda to check on his condition.

"Dad!" Sokka yelled with concern for his father's well being.

* * *

While that was going on, Sokka was kneeling in front of a picture of his missing mother, Ursa.

"I know I've made some bad choices," he said to the picture. "But today, I'm going to set things right." With that, he grabbed his two broadswords and backpack before looking at his mother's portrait one last time, threw on his cloak, and walked away.

* * *

Back at the battlefield, Appa landed away from the ensuing battle as Hakoda, Sokka and Katara dismounted to the ground. Sokka laid his wounded father on the ground before Katara waterbended from her pouch and attempted to heal Hakoda's wound.

"How does that feel Dad?" Katara asked.

"A...a little better," Hakoda said weakly before attempting to sit back up. "I need...to get back...to the troops." The pain was too much however as he started moaning in agony.

"You're hurt badly," Katara said. "You can't fight anymore."

"Everyone's counting on me...to lead this mission Katara," Hakoda responded. "I won't let them down." He tried to get up before falling back to the ground in pain.

"Can't you heal him any faster?" Sokka asked his sister.

"I'm doing everything I can," Katara answered before going back to healing his father. Sokka just closed his eyes, thinking about the situation when he came to a bold decision.

"I'll do it," was all he said.

"No offence Sokka but you're not exactly Mr. Healing Hands," Katara responded, thinking that's what Sokka ment.

"No," Sokka replied before standing up. "I'll lead the invasion force."

"Don't be crazy Sokka," Katara said.

"Maybe I am a little crazy but the eclipse is about to start and we need to be up that volcano by the time it does," Sokka replied.

"You can do this," Hakoda said to his son, believing in him. "I'm proud of you son."

"I still think you're crazy, but I'm proud of you too," Katara said to her brother, who smiled encouragingly before putting his head gear on and mounting Appa.

"Yip yip," he said to the sky bison, who grunted and soared to the sky.

* * *

The chaos in the battlefield had only escalated as tanks were either destroyed or encased in ice and Vehicon body parts were everywhere, but the projectiles kept on coming. Then Appa landed in front of a Vehicon, using his horns to knock him back. Sokka then dismounted Appa and raised his voice.

"Listen up everyone!" Sokka said to the invasion force who stopped and listened to what Sokka had to say. "I want the tanks in wedge formation! Warriors, Autobots and benders in the middle!" With that, the soldiers, tanks and Autobots went into action. "We're taking that tower and heading for the royal palace!" Once the tanks were in wedge formation, Warpath came up to Sokka and transformed into his tank mode.

"Then climb aboard Sokka and hold on tight! They don't call me 'Warpath' cause I'm gentle!" Warpath said as Sokka climbed onto Warpath and went inside.

"CHARGE!" the rookie bot shouted as he started moving in full speed to the tower.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang had made it to the city as he landed on the roof of a house, but much to his surprise, the streets were empty.

"That's strange," Aang said as he jumped from the roof and ran to the palace, blasting the doors open with his airbending.

"The Avatar is back!" he declared, but was shocked to see that the palace was empty too. "Hello? Anybody home?"

* * *

Back with the invasion force, the firebenders and Vehicons were starting to fall back when they couldn't hold off the incoming tanks that were pressing forward to the entrance to the capital city. Warpath then blasted a hole in a wall, allowing the invasion to press forward.

"The Fire Nation is falling back!" Tyro declared as the invasion pressed forward and Sokka opened the hatch on Warpath's tank mode, observing what was going on.

"Sokka, we're on our way to victory!" Bato declared.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang airbended through the drapery to the throne room, but much to his shock and disbelief, no one was there. Not even Ozai. Aang just fell to the ground in disbelief.

"No...no no NO!" he shouted. "Firelord Ozai, WHERE ARE YOU!?"

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	19. The Day of Black Sun part 2

**I TOLD YOU THAT THIS STORY WAS MAKING A BIG COMEBACK. TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY. ANYWAY, AS USUAL, TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON.**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 19: The Day of Black Sun part 2

* * *

The eclipse was inching closer and closer, and the chaos had only escalated in the battlefield. The plaza had been taken and the invasion force was inching closer to the capital, despite the futile attempts to hold them back by the firebenders and the Vehicons. Meanwhile, Sokka was with Bato, Warpath, Optimus and an earthbender discussing their next move when Sokka spotted Katara helping their still wounded father through the plaza doors.

"Dad! You're on your feet again!" Sokka excitedly exclaimed as he, Warpath, Toph and Optimus ran up to him while Katara allowed Hakoda to sit down.

"Thanks to your sister," Hakoda replied. "I'm in no shape to fight but maybe there is someway I could help."

"Everything's going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet," Sokka reported.

"Then let us hope that our luck will continue," Optimus said before turning into his vehicle mode. "For now, it is time for me to confront Megatron." With that, he sped towards the capital when Katara noticed something coming FROM the capital.

"Katara, you seem distracted, is something wrong" Hakoda asked her daughter.

"Yeah...is that...Is that Aang!?" Katara asked, not believing her eyes.

"What!?" Sokka asked. Sure enough, it was indeed Aang gliding to them and landing in front of his friends.

"Please tell me you're here because this 'all powerful Firelord' was really a big wimp and you didn't even need the eclipse to **WHAM!** kick his butt?" Warpath asked.

"He wasn't home...no one was...the entire palace city is abandoned," Aang replied. Sokka's eyes widened in horror as there was only one reason for this.

"They knew..." he said.

"It's over," Aang said with his head down. "The Firelord is probably long gone. Far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse."

"No, my instincts tell me he wouldn't go too far," Sokka said. He would have a secret bunker. Somewhere he could go so it'll be safe during a siege but still be close enough to lead his nation."

"If it's a secret bunker we're looking for, I'm just the girl to find it," Toph remarked.

"And you're gonna need me to **POW!** kick some Decepticon tailpipes!" Warpath remarked before turning on his comlink. "Ratchet, have either of the aerialbots been repaired yet?"

"I'm still working on Breakaway, but Powerglide should be good to go," Ratchet responded.

"Send him here," Warpath ordered before switching off his comlink. "We're gonna need all the help we can get." Sokka then pulled out a small device that resembled a pocket watch.

"The Mechanist gave me this timing device," he said. "It looks like we've got about ten minutes until the full eclipse. Ten minutes to find the Firelord."

"We can still do this," Aang said with a determined look on his face. "We can still win this day."

"Wait, if they knew we were coming, it could all be a trap," Katara suggested. "Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure all of us get out of here safely."

"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission," Hakoda replied. "They know what's at stake. If there's still a chance and there's still hope, I think they would want Aang to go for it."

"What do you think?" Sokka asked Aang. "You're the one who has to face the Firelord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you." Aang then stood up and faced toward the battlefield.

"I've got to try," Aang answered.

* * *

Meanwhile, Megatron was watching as Optimus advanced towards the city.

"Lord Megatron, should we send a team in to stop him?" a Vehicon asked.

"No..." Megatron answered. "I shall deal with Prime myself." With that, he got up from his throne and walked off.

* * *

While that was going on, Appa, carrying Aang, Sokka and Toph, was flying alongside Powerglide and Warpath to the top of the volcano where the Fire Nation capital is. Once they landed, Aang, Sokka and Toph jump off of Appa.

"Do you feel anything down there?" Aang asked Toph as she placed her hand to the ground.

"Yep," Toph answered. "There are natural tunnels criss-crossing through the inside of the volcano."

"Anything like a structure inside?" Warpath asked before Toph plunged her hands into the ground, gripping the earth with her fingers.

"There's something big, dense, and made of metal deep in the heart of the volcano," Toph answered.

"Sounds like a secret bunker if you ask me," Powerglide said before Toph bended a hole into the side of the volcano while Momo curiously stuck his head out from behind the headpiece of Appa's armor.

"Stay safe, we'll be back soon," Aang said to Momo before the five of them enter through the hole and into a dark tunnel.

"This way!" Toph said before running down one side of the tunnel with the others following her.

"What would we do without you?" Warpath asked.

"Perish in burning hot magma," Toph sarcastically answered before Sokka flinched away from a small stream of lava they were passing.

"Yeah, pretty much!" Sokka responded. The five of them then came across a cavern filled with active lava vents all over the floor.

"The tunnel continues on the other side and it leads right to the bunker," Toph reported.

"We'll have to be fast, but careful," Sokka said as he started to run across, but immediately stopped before one of the vents erupted close to him, causing him to yell in surprise as Aang swings his staff and cools the lava with airbending.

"Explain how that was careful," Powerglide remarked.

"I was wrong," Sokka admitted. "We need to be fast, careful, AND lucky." The group then quickly ran across the cavern, dodging the erupting steam and lava, but then see that what was ahead was nothing but a river of lava.

"There's no floor!" Sokka exclaimed. "It's just a river of lava!" Powerglide responded by transforming into his jet mode and opening hic cockpit.

"Then climb aboard kids!" he said before the three kids climbed into the cockpit. "And awaaaaay we go!" With that, Powerglide immediately boosted to flight with Warpath beside him, easily flying across the river before landing safely to the other side, letting the kids out before transforming to his robot mode. The group then advanced to a large metal bunker built against the cavern wall.

"That's some door!" Sokka exclaimed before Toph walked up to the door, placed her ear against it and knocked on it.

"Not a problem," Toph said before she bashed her elbows against the door, took a step back, kissed her middle and index fingers, and stabbed them through the middle of the door, ripping it open. They advance through as Toph points to the direction that they needed to go.

"I am SO glad we added you to the group!" Sokka said.

Meanwhile, War Minister Qin was walking down a tunnel, whistling, when the group ran past him. He gasped in shock, which got their attention, and they got into battle stances, which caused Qin to raise his hands in surrender.

The Firelord's chamber is that way down the hall to the left and up the stairs, you can't miss it!" Qin quickly said out of fear.

"Thanks!" Aang said in a slightly cheerful manner as the group pressed forward. Once they were gone, Qin sighed in relief, made sure no one saw him, and continued walking down the tunnel, resuming whistling.

Back with the group, Sokka checked the Mechanist's device one last time.

"Only thirty seconds until the total eclipse!" he reported before they made it to another large door, this time with a flame symbol on the top of it. Aang then took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"You ready kid?" Warpath asked.

"Yes," Aang answered. "I ready to face the Firelord." With that, he immediately airbended the doors off the hinges and saw someone sitting on the throne, but their eyes widened when they realized it wasn't the Firelord...it was Azula.

"So, you are alive after all," Azula said to Aang with a wicked smirk on her face. "I had a hunch that you survived, but it doesn't matter. I've known about the invasion for months."

* * *

Meanwhile, Zuko stood in front of a much smaller door within the tunnels.

"I'm ready to face you," was all he said before he slides the door open to reveal Firelord Ozai, guards surrounding him, slightly surprised to see his son.

"Prince Zuko, what are you doing here?" he asked.

* * *

While that was going on, Optimus walked through the inside of the palace when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see his old nemesis Megatron with his fusion cannon ready.

"Megatron, your treacherous ways end here," Optimus declared as he deployed his sword.

"We shall see Prime," Megatron replied as he deployed his own sword before charging at Optimus.

* * *

Back outside, the eclipse was beginning as the invasion force was advancing up the side of the volcano.

"The eclipse is starting!" the Mechanist reported. "Put on your eclipse glasses!" With that, he and the other humans put on a visor with thin slits over their eyes as the moon completely blacked out the sun.

* * *

"Why are you here?" Ozai asked his son as he aproached him.

"I'm here to tell the truth," Zuko answered.

"Telling the truth during the middle of an eclipse...this should be interesting," Ozai responded before motioning for his guards to leave.

"First of all, in Ba Sing Se, it was Megatron who took down the Avatar, not me," Zuko said.

"Why would he lie to me about that?" Ozai asked.

"Because the Avatar is not dead," Zuko answered. "He survived."

"What!?" Ozai asked in an alarmed state.

"In fact, he's probably leading this invasion," Zuko added. "He could be on his way here right now."

"Get out!" Ozai yelled as he stood up, furious at his son. "Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you."

"That's another thing," Zuko said. "I'm not taking orders from you anymore."

"You will obey me, or this defiant breath will be your last!" Ozai responded, seething with rage as he got up and started to walk to his son until Zuko unseathed his swords.

"Think again!" Zuko replied. "I am going to speak my mind, and you are going to listen." Ozai just glared at Zuko before  
sitting back down.

* * *

Back with Optimus and Megatron, their fight had escelated as their swords clashed with each other and they ocasionally exchanged punches to the face. Megatron then saw an opening and tripped Optimus before kicking his face, sending him flying to the wall. Megatron then fired his fusion cannon at him, but Optimus easily dodged the blasts and returned fire with his own blasters.

* * *

"Where is he!?" Aang asked Azula as him and the others were in a battle stance. "Where's the Firelord!?"

"Hm, you mean I'm not good enough for you?" Azula sarcastically asked as she stood up. "You're hurting my feelings." Warpath then stepped forward.

"If I were you, 'princess,' I'd start talking before **KAPOW!** I blast ya!" Warpath remarked.

"And stick to the truth," Toph added as she stepped forward. "I'll be able to tell if you're lying."

"Are you sure?" Azula asked as she stepped down from the throne. "I'm a pretty good liar...I am a 400 foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings."

"...Okay you're good I admit it," Toph replied before bending the earth underneeth Azula to encase her from her neck down. "But you really ought to consider telling the truth anyway." Azula however mearely smirked as a laser blast shattered her prison, much to the shock of the group. Azula, unphased, just wipped the dust from her armor as three giant Insecticons descended from the cealing.

"I believe you know the Insecticons," Azula said as the Insecticons started howling. "These are their leaders: Kickback, Shrapnel and Bombshell."

"Great...more giant bugs...just what we needed," Sokka sarcastically remarked in fear.

"Insecticons, attack!" Kickback ordered as they transformed and started flying to the group.

* * *

Back outside, the invasion force was advancing to the city.

"Surround the periphery!" Bato ordered. "We have to secure the palace by the time the eclipse is over. Otherwise, we'll be in for the fight of our lives." Meanwhile, Haru, Tyro, Jazz and a group of earthbenders advanced to a group of firebenders.

"Stop!" Tyro ordered. "Surrender peacefully and we won't harm you!"

"We'll never surrender!" one of the firebenders responded as he dashed forward and tried to attack, but only produces a pathetic fizzle. They tried to back away when they bumped into something. They turned to see Mirage deactivating his cloaking field, looking down at the firebenders.

"Er, okay, we surrender," the firebender said.

Meanwhile, Katara was helping her father up the volcano, looking down at the palace.

"There it is," Hakoda said. "The Fire Nation royal palace. We've come so far."

"It's not over yet," Katara said as she and Hakoda begun to descend down to the city.

* * *

"For so long, all I wanted was for you to love me, to accept me," Zuko continued to his father. I thought it was my honor that I wanted but really, I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn. My father, who challenged me, a 13-year-old boy, to an Agni Kai. How can you possibly justify a duel with a child?"

"It was to teach you respect!" Ozai answered.

"It was cruel!" Zuko argued. "And it was wrong."

"Then you've learned nothing," Ozai coldly responded.

"No, I've learned EVERYTHING!" Zuko replied. "Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history and somehow, the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation, and the Decepticons have only made things worse! The people don't see our greatness, they hate us! And we deserve it. We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness." Ozai responded by cackling in a mocking manner.

"Your uncle has gotten to you, hasn't he?" he asked.

"Yes," Zuko answered before smiling slightly. "He has." Ozai just continued glaring at his son.

* * *

Meanwhile, Optimus was thrown to the wall by Megatron, causing him to crash into the tyrant's throne room as Megatron walked towards him.

"Still fighting for the weak Optimus," Megatron said as Optimus got back up, but Megatron didn't give him the chance to attack as he knocked him to thr ground again. "I'm going to make them suffer Prime, these humans that you love so much, I will take them all from you, one by one." Just before Megatron could strike however, Optimus got out his blade and blocked Megatron's attack, then gets back up and the clash continued.

* * *

Back with the group, Toph earthbended a wall to try and block the Insecticons from reaching them, but they easily broke through as they advanced and grabbed Warpath and Powerglide and tossed them to the wall. Aang tried using his airbending to blow them away, but they were so big that it only pushed them back slightly. They then turned to their robot modes and were ready to attack when Powerglide and Warpath fired laser blasts at them to distract them.

"We'll fend them off!" Warpath said. "Go get Azula!" The three kids nodded as they quickly ran from the Insecticons, who tried to chase them, only for Warpath and Powerglide to start firing at them. Azula quickly got up from her throne and ran for the exit and down a hallway, with the kids chasing her, when Sokka realized something.

"Wait!" he shouted which caused Aang, Toph and Azula to stop in their tracks. "Don't you see what she's doing? She's just playing with us. She hasn't even attacked yet! She's not even trying to win this fight!"

"Not true, I'm giving it my all," Azula sarcastically remarked.

"You're just trying to keep us here and waste all our time!" Toph declared.

"Um, right, I think your friend just said that genius," Azula insultingly responded. "And since you can't see, I should tell you I'm rolling my eyes."

"I'll roll your whole head!" Toph angrily responded.

"She's just baiting you again," Sokka reminded her.

"Okay, so what do we do?" Aang asked. "Just ignore her?"

"We don't have a choice," Sokka answered. "We just have to get out of here and find the Fire Lord on our own somehow." With that, the three kids turned to walk away from Azula.

"It's a trap," Azula suddenly said. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Ignore her!" Sokka said as he kept walking.

"So, Sokka's your name, right?" Azula asked. "My favorite prisoner used to mention you all the time." That time she got Sokka to turn around. "She was convinced that you were going to come rescue her. Of course, you never came and she gave up on you." Knowing who she was talking about, tears started to fill Sokka's eyes before he yelled in rage and rushed at Azula.

"Come and get it," Azula said with a smug smirk as she deployed a hidden blade from the sleeve of her armor, but Toph could easily sense it, so she tossed a stone at her, pinning Azula's hand to the wall and causing her to drop the knife and grunt in pain. Sokka then pinned her to the wall, glaring into her golden eyes.

"Where...is...Suki!?" Sokka asked.

* * *

"After I leave here today, I'm going to free Uncle Iroh from his prison, and I'm going to beg for his forgiveness," Zuko bluntly told his father. "He is the one who has been a real father to me." Ozai's response was to chuckle sarcastically.

"That's just beautiful," he sarcastically responded. "Maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and fauilure."

"But I've come to an even more important decision," Zuko added. "I'm going to join the Avatar and the Autobots, and I'm going to help them defeat you and Megatron."

"Really?" Ozai responded with a sly grin. "Since you're a full blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I'm powerless, you've got your swords, why don't you just do it now?"

"Because I know my own destiny," Zuko answered. "Taking you down is the Avatar's destiny." With that, he seathed his swords and turned to walk away. "Goodbye."

"Coward!" Ozai shouted. "You think you're brave enough to face me but you'll only do it during an eclipse. If you have any real courage, you'll stick around until the Sun comes out. Don't you want to know what happened to your Mother?" Upon hearing that, Zuko stopped and turned around. Ozai responded by grinning venomously, thinking he has him now.

"What happened that night?" Zuko asked.

"My father, Firelord Azulon, had commanded me to do the unthinkable to you, my own son, and I was going to do it," Ozai answered. "Your Mother had found out and swore she would protect you at any cost. She knew I wanted the throne and she proposed a plan. A plan in which I would become Firelord and your life would be spared."

* * *

"Where's Suki!?" Sokka angrily asked Azula, who just smirked at Sokka's anger.

"Sokka, she won't talk," Aang said as he grabbed Sokka's shoulder.

"Where are you keeping her!?" Sokka asked Azula.

* * *

"Your Mother did vicious, treasonous things that night," Ozai continued. "She knew the consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished."

"So she's alive," Zuko said as a tear streamed from his eye.

"Perhaps," Ozai coldly responded. "Now I realize that banishment is far too merciful a penalty for treason. Your penalty will be FAR steeper." And with that, Ozai could feel his strength return to him, meaning only one thing: the eclipse was over. He then started bending lightning and shot it at Zuko, but surprisingly, he caught it by the tips of his fingers and launched it back at Ozai, causing him to fly back into the wall and start a fire. Zuko took this time to escape as Ozai glared at his son.

* * *

"Oh, sounds like the firebending's back on," Azula remarked as she shot a blue flame at Sokka, who barely dodged it, then breaks free from her restraints. The kids prepared for a battle when Azula got back up.

"Dad's all the way at the end of the hall and down the secret stairway on the left. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to see you now," she said with an evil grin on her face as she quickly ran down the tunnel.

"I fell for it!" Sokka exclaimed when he realized what happened. "I used up all our time."

"It's not your fault Sokka," Toph replied. "Azula was ready for us. She had every move planned out."

"And now it's too late," Sokka hopelessly said.

"Maybe it's not too late," Aang suggested. "The eclipse is over, but I can face the Firelord anyway."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea," Sokka replied.

"But I'm ready!" Aang argued. "I came here with a job to do and everyone's counting on me!"

"The Firelord knew we were coming this time," Toph said. "We thought we had surprise on our side but we didn't. It just wasn't our day. What we need to do now is go get Warpath and Powerglide and go help our friends."

"I guess you guys are right," Aang admitted.

"You'll have another chance," Sokka said as he placed a hand on Aang's shoulder. "I know you will."

* * *

Meanwhile, Optimus was gaining the upper hand, pinning Megatron to the ground before the monitor in his throne room turned on.

"I suggest you turn to see what I have in store for the invasion force Optimus," Megatron suggested. Optimus turned, and his optics widened in horror when he saw the six Construticons, the five Combaticons, and five beast Decepticons known as the Terrorcons, as well as an armada of Fire Nation blimps, ready to strike.

"Your choice Prime," Megatron said. "Either leave now to assist your puny invasion force, or stay and fight, and risk the lives of these humans you have sworn to protect." Optimus just glared at Megatron before getting up and running out the throne room. Megatron then turned back to the monitor and started cackling evily, believing he has this entire war in the palm of his hands, when suddenly something blasted him in the back and he fell to the ground, leaking energon. He turned to see Azula, in a position that proved that she had bended lightning at the tyrant. Megatron, consumed with fury, pointed his fusion cannon at her before it suddenly was disabled by a null ray blast, and Starscream walked to the now wounded Megatron.

"Oh how the mighty hath fallen," Starscream remarked as he stood above Megatron, pointing his missiles at him. "I have been waiting for this moment for eons." Megatron just glared at Starscream, then clossed his eyes, accepting his defeat, before a missile launched from the seeker blasted a hole in Megatron's chest, and the tyrant was no more.

* * *

Back outside, the invasion force had successfuly surrounded the palace. Katara then layed Hakoda against one of the tanks, then the two of them took off their glasses.

"What should we do Hakoda?" Bato asked. "Shouldn't something have happened by now?"

"I don't know," Hakoda answered. "But now that the eclipse is over I expect we're going to see some firebenders any minute." Then, Optimus ran up to Hakoda and Bato.

"The invasion is a failure!" he declared. "We must retreat immediately!" Just then, they heard the intercom system built into the Fire Nation activate.

"Attention firebenders and Decepticons," Starscream said through the intercom. Everyone in the invasion force stopped dead in their tracks to listen to what Starscream had to say. "It brings me great sorrow to report that during the invasion, an unknown Autobot snuck into the capital, and KILLED Lord Megatron. Rest assured though, he will not have died in vain, for we shall now take vengeance on this petty invasion force. Release the blimps and the Combinders!" The second he said that, the Fire Nation war balloons and zeppelins started to rise upward, much to the horror of the Mechanist.

"My own invention!" he exclaimed. "Oh this is terrible!" But that wasn't the worse part. Then the invasion force saw the Constructicons, Combaticons and Terrorcons advance to them.

"Constructicons, merge to form Devastator!" Scrapper yelled to his fellow Constructicons.

"Combaticons, merge and form Bruticus!" the Combaticon leader 'Onslaught' ordered his fellow Combaticons.

"Terrorcons, merge and form Abominus!" the Terrorcon leader 'Hun-Gurr' yelled to his fellow Terrorcons. With that, each of the robots transformed into a limb each and merged into 'Devastator,' 'Bruticus,' and 'Abominus,' much to the horror of the entire invasion force. Then Katara noticed Appa and pointed to where they were.

"They're back!" Katara shouted as Appa, carrying the kids, with Powerglide and Warpath flying beside him, flew to the invasion force when the group noticed the three Combinders and blimps heading to the invasion force. Appa then landed and Katara ran up to Aang.

"It was all a trap," Sokka reported before the kids jumpped off Appa and Powerglide and Warpath landed. "Azula knew we were coming and she's plotted out every move. We just got to get to the beach as fast as we can. If we can make it to the submarines, maybe we can get away safely."

"Agreed," Optimus said before turning to the invasion force. "Everyone, fall back!" With that, everyone retreated.

* * *

While that was going on, Zuko ran to a mysteriously damaged Capital City prison to free his uncle. He ran past craters and injured firebenders and made it to his uncle's cell.

"Uncle!" he exclaimed, but then he noticed that there was a huge hole in Iroh's cell, and he was gone. Zuko then grabbed a dazed warden by the collar.

"Where is my uncle!?" he demanded.

"He's gone," the warden answered in shock and awe. "He busted himself out. I... I've never seen anything like it! He was like a one man army!"

* * *

Meanwhile, the invasion force had successfully retreated from the city, but then the zeppelins caught up to them and opened their bomb bay doors.

"Try and find cover!" Sokka suggested. "I think we're about to see some bombs!" Everyone then huddled together as Toph bended a large slab of stone above them before the zeppelins started dropping bombs at them. Some of them impacted the stone shields protecting the invasion force, but Toph bended two supports from the ground to keep the slab from collapsing. Then, surprisingly, the zeppelins past them.

"Why aren't they turning around to attack us again?" Bulkhead asked.

"That doesn't make any sense, unless...they're going to destroy the submarines!" Ironhide exclaimed.

"How are we all going to escape!?" Sokka asked.

"We're not," Optimus responded which got the invasion force's attention. "The Autobots and the adults will stay and fight while the children, along with Warpath and Powerglide will go somewhere safe. It will be the only way to keep hope alive."

"Once the kids have left the Fire Nation, we'll surrender," Bato explained. "We'll be prisoners but we'll all survive this battle."

"I've got some experience with the Fire Nation prisons," Tyro added. "It's not going to be easy but we'll get by."

"They're at the beach already!" Sokka exclaimed as the zeppelins started dropping bombs at the subs, destroying them. The kids eventually decided that this was the best option and said goodbye to their loved ones. First, Teo said goodbye to his father as The Mechanist helped his son on Appa's saddle.

"Bye son," the Mechanist said as he hugged Teo.

"Bye Dad," Teo said in a sad tone. "I'm really proud of you." Then The Duke tried to climb Appa before Pipsqueak helped him up onto Appa's saddle.

"I'll miss you Pipsqueak," The Duke said to his friend.

"Take care, The Duke," Pipsqueak replied. Next, Haru and Tyro hugged each other goodbye.

"I'll be back for you Dad," Haru said to his father.

"If we don't escape on our own first," Tyro remarked before Haru bowed to his father and got on Appa. Then Katara and Sokka said goodbye to their father.

"We lost today, but we've never been this close," Hakoda said. "We tasted victory and that counts for something."

"We'll miss you Dad," Katara said before she and her brother gave their father one final hug.

"Bye Dad," Sokka said. "We won't be apart for too long this time. I promise." Finally, Katara and Toph went up to say goodbye to their Autobot companions.

"We won't be apart again for too long kiddo, I promise," Ironhide said to Toph as she went up and hugged his leg.

"(Goodbye Katara,)" Bumblebee solumly beeped.

"We'll miss you both," Toph said before she, Sokka and Katara got on Appa. Then, Aang leapped up onto Appa to say something to the invasion force.

"Thank you all for being so brave and so strong," he said. "I'm going to make this up to you." With that, Aang commanded Appa to take off with Powerglide and Warpath beside him. Then the three Combinders started to approach the invasion force.

"Surrender or die!" Devastator ordered as he, Bruticus and Abominus got their weapons ready.

"We must hold them off until Aang and the others have left the Fire Nation!" Optimus ordered before he and the others charged to the Combinders.

* * *

Meanwhile, Azula watched Appa, Warpath and Powerglide fly away inside her zeppelin.

"Should we follow them Princess?" a Vehicon asked.

"No, they're too fast," Azula answered. "It doesn't matter, they'll be back."

* * *

Back with the kids and the two bots, Aang got an idea for where they would go.

"I know just the place for us to go where we'll be safe for a while," Aang said to the others. "The Western Air Temple." But as Appa flied into the horizon, the group failed to notice a war balloon following them. A war balloon, piloted by Zuko.

* * *

Later that day, Starscream had arranged a funeral for Megatron on a Fire Nation ship. Not that he wanted to, but because he needed to keep suspicions of him killing Megatron as far away from him as possible. Megatron's body was then released into the sea as Starscream had some final words to say.

"With the tragic death of our lord and master, the title of supreme leader of the Decepticons now falls to his second in command," he said before he grinned wickedly. "All, hail, Starscream."

"ALL HAIL STARSCREAM!" replied every Decepticon on the ship...except one. His name: 'Cyclonus,' and he was sure that there was more to the death of Megatron than what Starscream had said.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	20. The Western Air Temple

**DAMN I'M QUICK NOW AREN'T I? FOUR CHAPTERS IN THE COURSE OF THREE DAYS. HOWEVER, I THINK I MAY NEED ANOTHER BREAK BEFORE I CONTINUE THIS STORY. REST ASSURED THOUGH, IT WILL LIKELY BE A SMALL ONE. ANYWAY, AS ALWAYS,** **TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 20: The Western Air Temple

* * *

It had been a while since the failed invasion of the Fire Nation, and the Gaang, along with Appa, Powerglide, Warpath, Haru, Teo and The Duke were walking through a rocky wasteland with the Sun blazing above their heads. Most of them had their heads bowed down dejectedly.

"This is humiliating," Katara said, finally breaking the scilence.

"What's humiliating?" Powerglide asked. "Getting our exhaust ports royally kicked or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?"

"Both," Katara answered.

"Sorry guys, but Appa gets tired carrying all these people," Aang explained.

"I wonder how the rest of the troops are?" Teo asked.

"Probably on their way to a prison right now," Warpath responded.

"Seems like my dad just got out," Haru admitted. "Now he's going back in."

"I miss Pipsqueak," The Duke said.

"I miss not having blisters on my feet," Sokka joked in a dry manner.

"What are blisters?" Powerglide asked. Before Sokka could answer, Toph sensed something that gave her a relieved grin on her face.

"Hey, we're here!" she reported. "I can feel it!" However, the group stopped at the edge of a cliff, not seeing any temples.

"I think your feet need to get their optics checked Toph," Warpath remarked.

"No, she's right," Aang said which stunned the group. "We are here." Unknown to everyone except Aang and Toph, the temple was built upside down, underneeth the cliff.

"Wow, it's amazing!" Toph complimented.

* * *

Meanwhile, a rope descended and Zuko climbed down it, landing on the surface of the temple floor. He looked upon the  
sight of the temple as he remembers when he and his uncle went here in search of the Avatar a week after his banishment.

* * *

_"What a stunning view," Iroh said._

_"The only view I'm interested in seeing is the Avatar in chains," Zuko dryly responded with a bandage placed on the_ _scarred side of his face, for it had only been a week after Ozai and Zuko's Agni Kai._

_"You know, the Avatar hasn't been seen for a hundred years," Iroh explained. "The chances of finding him here are very_ _slim."_

_"First, we'll check each of the air temples," Zuko said with great determination. "Then we'll scour the world, searching_ _even the most remote locations until we find him."_

_"Prince Zuko, it's only been a week since your banishment," Iroh said with great concern for his nephew. "You should take_ _some time to heal and rest."_

_"What else would I expect to hear from the laziest man in the Fire Nation!?" Zuko replied, raising his voice. Iroh's_ _reaction was to just look down and sigh in defeat, then walk away._

_"The only way to regain my honor is to find the Avatar, so I will," Zuko added._

* * *

Zuko's flashback was cut short when a light blue blur came in and took him.

* * *

Back with the group, the Gaang and the Bots were observing the foundation of the temple.

"It's so different from the Northern Air Temple," Teo said. "I wonder if there are any secret rooms."

"Let's go check it out," Haru said as he, The Duke and Teo enthusiastically join them. Aang was about to join them when he was blocked by Katara holding his staff.

"You guys go," Katara said as she rested a hand on Aang's shoulder. "I think we need to talk about some things."

"I'll race you Duke," Haru said, much to the annoyance of THE Duke.

"I told you, it's THE Duke," he corrected as they followed Teo who was rolling away in his wheelchair while Aang felt dissapointed that he couldn't join them.

"Why can't I go?" Aang asked.

"We need to decide what we're gonna do now," Katara answered rather seriously. "And since you;re the Avatar, maybe you should be a part of it." Aang hesitantly walked back to the rest of the group, setting his glider against a rock and sat down, crossing his arms.

"Fair enough," he bluntly replied. "So, what's the new plan?"

"Well, if you ask me, the new plan is the OLD plan," Sokka answered. "You just need to master all four elements, and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes."

"Oh, yeah, that's great," Aang sarcastically responded before picking up a pepple and tossing it to the air nonchalantly. "No problem, I'll just do that."

"Aang, no one said it's gonna be easy," Katara said.

"Well, it's not even gonna be possible!" Aang shouted. "Where am I suppose to find a firebending teacher?"

"He does have a point," Powerglide responded. "Last I checked those hot heads hated us." Katara thought to herself while that was going on and came up with an idea.

"We could look for Jeong Jeong," Katara suggested.

"Yeah right, like we'll ever run into Jeong Jeong again," Aang bluntly responded.

"Who's..." Toph started to ask since she didn't know who this Jeong Jeong was. "Oh never mind. If it's important I'll find out." With that, Aang got up and grabbed his glider.

"Oh well, guess we can't come up with anything," he said. "Why don't we just take a nice tour around the temple?" He then proceeded to run off the cliff with his glider unfolded and flew off with Momo beside him.

"This kid speaks my language," Powerglide said before transforming and flying after Aang, leaving Katara, Sokka, Toph and Warpath.

"What's up with him?" Toph asked.

"There's gotta be somebody who can teach him firebending," Sokka said.

* * *

In an isolated area of the temple, the blue blur from earlier dropped Zuko and revealed itself to be the Autobot 'Blurr.'

"What was that for Zippy!?" Zuko asked which earned him a scowl from Blurr.

"FirstOfAllHuman, TheName'sNotZippy!" Blurr responded with unbelievable speed. "AsAMatterOfFact, IDon'tBelieveI'veMetAnotherBotNamed- -Zippy, SoOneCanOnlyAssumeThatYouCameUpWithZippyInRefferan ceToMySpeedWhichMayBeTechnicallyAcurate, ButLacksACertain- -Creativity." Zuko just looked up at Blurr, gawking in disbelief.

"Uhhhh..." was all he could say for now.

"MoreToThePoint, TheName'sBlurr," Blurr continued. "I'mAnAutobotIntelliganceAgentSlashMemberOfTheElie teGuardSentToThisPlanetAfterA- -SpaceBridgeExplosion. AfterScourgingThePlanetIFoundMyColleguesGettingAmb ushedByDecepticonsAtTheGate, DecepticonsInTheAir, DecepticonsOnTheWall, DcepticonsDecepticonsDecepticons! IfWeShootEmOutTheAirThenThey'reStillAtTheWall, IfWeShootEmOffTheWallThey'reStillAtTheGate, SoWHereDoesThatLeadUs, Nowhere! That'sWhere! SoWeTookShelterInThisVeryStrangeTemple, IDon'tBelieveI'veEverSeeATempleBuiltUpsi-"

"**SHUT UP!**" Zuko shouted with his hands in his ears, to which Blurr glared at him. "Uh, I mean, could you repeat the last part?"

"WhichLastPart?" Blurr asked.

"Everything after 'The Name's not Zippy,'" Zuko answered before Blurr got a transmission.

"Blur, come in," said a gruff voice that symbolized authority through the comlink.

"YesSirYesSir, IHaveTheIntruderWi-" Blurr began before being interupted.

"Never mind that, we have a group of intruders that just arrived here," the voice replied. "Bring the human with you, he may know who they are."

"GotIt! OkayHumanComeWithMe!" Blurr said before grabbing Zuko, despite his protests, and speeding off.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang was flying through the temples with Powerglide beside them as Appa, with the rest of the kids, and Warpath flew towards them.

"Aang, can we talk about you learning firebending now!?" Katara asked Aang, who feigns deaf.

"What!? The wind is too loud in my ears!" he replied. "Check out this loop!" He then maneuvers his glider into a perfect loop.

"That's nothing, watch this!" Powerglide said as he did the same loop, but barrel rolling at the same time as well.

"Aang, I think we should be making some plans about our future!" Sokka suggested as Appa, Warpath, Powerglide and Aang landed on a platorm.

"Okay, we can do that while I show you the giant Pai Sho table," Aang responded excitedly. "Oh, you're gonna love the all-day echo chamber!"

"I think that'll have to wait," Toph relied rather seriously as she points behind her as Appa moved aside to reveal Blurr, along with four other bots with him, weapons drawn, while Blur was holding Zuko. The Gaang reacted in shock as they saw their old rival and got in a battle stance, but Powerglide and Warpath gasped in disbelief and immediately saluted to the tallest bot of the bunch.

"What are you doing?" Aang asked, confused.

"Kids, meet the second in command of the Autobots, Ultra Magnus," Warpath answered. Magnus, seeing that there were Autobots with the intruders, lowered his giant hammer.

"Autobots, lower your weapons," he ordered his four allies. Blurr, along with the other three Bots, 'Arcee,' 'Smokescreen,' and 'Springer,' responded by doing just that.

"Who are you, and what are you doing with Warpath and Powerglide?" Arcee asked, wanting to get to the point.

"My name's Aang, and I'm the Avatar," Aang responded.

"Didn't you get Optimus' message?" Powerglide asked, which immediately got the attention of all five of the Bots.

"Didn't get WHO'S message?" Springer asked in disbelief.

"Optimus is alive?" Smokescreen asked.

"Yeah, why?" Warpath asked. "Didn't you get his distress call?"

"No, OurCommunicationsWereMostlyDisabledWhenWeGotHereWi thTheExceptionOfShortRangeComlinks," Blurr replied, to which caused the kids' mouths to drop to the floor.

"What was it he was trying to send?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"The Decepticons allied themselves with a powerful human faction known as the Fire Nation," Warpath explained.

"That would explain the humans that shot fire at us when they saw us," Smokescreen remarked.

"But Optimus has allied himself with a group of humans that shared his belief in freedom, and had the strength and talents to end both their war and ours," Powerglide continued.

"Where is this group of humans?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"You're looking right at em, sir!" Warpath answered, motioning to the four kids.

"Hi," Aang said while smiling and waving nervously at Ultra Magnus.

"They seem rather...small," Ultra Magnus said. "How exactly are they capable of acomplishing such feats?"

"They can control this world's natural elements to their advantage," Powerglide answered while Katara, Aang and Toph each demonstrated their talents while Magnus and his troops watched in awe.

"Wow..." Smokescreen said.

"Not bad," Arcee said with a smirk.

"Then where is Optimus?" Ultra Magnus asked. Upon being asked that question, the group lowered their heads in sadness.

"He got captured by the Decepticons, along with every other Autobot that was with him except me and Powerglide," Warpath answered.

"You let Optimus get captured!?" Arcee asked while glaring at the group.

"He let himself get captured," Aang responded.

"What happened?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"The reason Optimus sent the distress signal was to alert the Autobots of the eclipse that happened a few hours ago," Powerglide answered. "The eclipse rendered the firebenders powerless for eight minutes, and we planed out an invasion of the Fire Nation, but they were ready. The Firelord was nowhere to be found during the eclipse and once it was over, the Cons had Devastator, Bruticus and Abominus go after the invasion force. Optimus volunteered himself along with the other Autobots and the adult humans to stay behind while Warpath and I helped the kids get to safety, and now, here we are."

"I see..." Ultra Magnus responded with his head down.

"But there is some good news," Warpath added. "During the invasion, Megatron somehow was killed."

"Well, that is good news," Springer replied. "Now the Cons are leaderless."

"Not exactly Springer," Powerglide replied. "Now that bucket head bit the dust, Starscream's taken control."

"No doubt that son of a glitch was somehow responsible for Megatron's demise," Arcee responded before hearing Katara clearing her throat.

"Alright, now that we've met, I have one question: What is HE doing here!?" Katara asked, obviously reffering to Zuko.

"YouKnowThisGuy?" Blurr asked.

"Unfortunately," Sokka coldly responded before Blurr set him down, the Gaang now back in their battle stances. Then Appa proceeded to lick Zuko, much to his disgust, and to Aang's confusion.

"I know you all must be surprised to see me," Zuko said.

"Not really, since you've followed us around the world," Sokka bluntly replied.

"Right...Well, uh...anyway," Zuko replied, visibly uncomfortable. "What I wanted to tell you is that I've changed, and I uh, I'm good now. And, well, I think I should join your group. Oh! And I can teach firebending...to you." Aang just lowered his staff while a baffled Katara kept her eyes on Zuko in case he tried anything.

"You want to WHAT now!?" Toph asked while Sokka just stood there, dumbfounded. Smokescreen was about to say something when Ultra Magnus placed his hammer in front of him, gesturing his head to say 'no.'

"This is THEIR situation, not ours', let them handle it their way," Magnus commanded.

"You can't possibly think that ANY of us would trust you, can you!?" Katara bluntly said to Zuko. "I mean, how stupid do you think we are!?"

"Yeah, all you've ever done is try to hunt us down and capture Aang!" Sokka added.

"I've done some good things!" Zuko argued. "I mean, I could've stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free! That's something." Appa then proceeded to lick him again.

"Appa does seem to like him," Toph said.

"He probably just covered himself in honey or something so that Appa would lick him," Sokka replied before swiping his arms aside in a 'no' gesture. "I'm not buying it."

"I can understand why you don't trust me, and I know I've made some mistakes in the past," Zuko said before looking to the side in shame.

"Like when you attacked our village?" Sokka reminded him.

"Or when you stole my mother's necklace and used it to track us down and capture us?" Katara added with her fists clentched.

"Look, I admit I've done some awful things," Zuko admited as he lowered his head and pressed a palm against his temple. "I was wrong to try and capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the Water Tribe, and I never should have sent that assassin after you. I'm gonna try and stop him." The Gaang clearly wasn't pleased, but the last two sentences made their eyes widden in shock.

"Wait, YOU sent Dreadwing after us!?" Warpath yelled, which confused Zuko since he never even knew who Dreadwing is.

"What?" he asked. "Who's Dreadwing?"

"That giant freak attacked us at Piando's house and nearly killed us!" Toph said as she pointed a finger accusingly at Zuko.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Zuko asked Aang, who looked down to the side, pondering. "You once said you thought we could be good friends. You know I have good in me." Aang just remained in deep thought, not saying a word, then looked to his friends. Sokka just shook his head at Aang while Katara, Toph, Powerglide and Warpath remained still. Aang then looked back at Zuko, reaching his decision.

"There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done," he said, which caused Zuko's eyes to widen in shock. "We'll never let you join us."

"You need to get out of here, now," Katara said.

"I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore!" Zuko said, frustrated and starts walking towards them, when Warpath, without warning, stepped in with his chest cannon charged.

"Get out of here and don't come back!" Katara shouted, giving Zuko one last chance to leave. "And if we ever see you again...well, we'd better not see you again!" Zuko just closed his eyes in defeat as he starts walking away in shame.

"Well, now that that's over with, I say we should get better aquainted with each other," Smokescreen suggested, trying to ease the tension.

* * *

Zuko in the meantime made camp in a forest close to the temple. Needless to say he was quite frustrated.

"Argh! I can't believe how STUPID I am!" he exclaimed. "I am! I mean, what was I thinking!?" He then placed his hand on his forehead in frstration. "Telling them I sent an assasin after them!? Why didn't I just say Azula did that!? They would have believed that! STUPID!"

* * *

Back with the group, the kids and the Bots were standing near the doors of a chamber, discussing what just happened.

"Why would he try to fool us like that?" Katara asked while walking into the chamber.

"Obviously, he wants to lead us into some kind of trap," Sokka answered.

"This is just like when we were in prison together in Ba Sing Se," Katara added before her, Sokka and Toph readied sleeping bags while Aang held a jar. "He starts talking about his mother, and making it seem like he's an actual human being with feelings."

"Just like how Starscream would try and earn someone's trust," Arcee said.

"Yeah, one minute he'll tell us a sob story about how Megatron abuses him, then **BAM!** he strikes," Warpath added.

"The thing is though, with Zuko, it worked," Katara admited. "I did feel sorry for him. I felt like he was really confused and hurt."

"But when the time came, he betrayed you," Springer said.

"And we paied the price," Katara added. "We can't trust him."

"I kind of have a confession to make," Aang said which got everyone's attention. "Katara, Sokka, remember when you two were sick and I got captured by Zhao?"

"And you made us suck on frozen frogs!?" Sokka replied in an outraged manner. "How could I forget!? I had a wart on the flap that hangs down from the back of my throat for a month!"

"Sokka, I looked at it and told you there was nothing there!" Katara said, visibly annoyed.

"I could feel it!" Sokka argued. "It's MY throatal flap!"

"Anyway, when Zhao chained me up, it was ZUKO who came in and got me out," Aang continued. "He risked his life to save me." Katara then stepped forward, obviously not believing what Aang just said.

"No way, I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself," Katara argued.

"Yeah, face it Aang, you're nothing but a big prize to him," Sokka added.

"You're probably right," Aang admitted.

"And what was all that crazy stuff about setting Appa free!?" Katara asked. "What a liar."

"Actually, he wasn't lying," Toph said, which got everyone's attention.

"Well whoop-de-doo, at least we can't add animal cruelty to the list," Powerglide sarcastically remarked.

"I'm just saying that considering his messed up family, and how he was raised, he could've truned out a lot worse," Toph replied with a slight bit of empathy.

"So you're saying we should give him a fraggin medal for not being as much of a jackass as he could have been?" Springer remarked.

"All I know is that while he was talking to us, he was sincere," Toph replied. "Maybe, you're all just letting your hurt feelings keep you from thinking clearly."

"Easy for you to say!" Katara responded. "You weren't there when he attacked us with pirates!"

"Or when he burned down Kyoshi Island!" Sokka added with his fists clentched.

"Or when he tried to capture me at the fire temple!" Aang added.

"Why would you even TRY to defend him!?" Katara asked, her anger for Zuko growing.

"Because Katara, you're all ignoring one crucial fact," Toph answered before she repeatedly jabs her finger on Aang's chest. "Aang needs a firebending teacher. We can't think of a SINGLE person in the world for the job. Now one shows up on a silver platter and you won't even think about it!?"

"I'm not having Zuko as my firebending teacher," Aang responded, which turned Toph's look from anger to shock.

"You're darn right you're not buddy," Sokka added.

"Well, then I guess that's settled," Katara said with her arms crossed.

"Be that as it may, we should still bring him here," Ultra Magnus said, which visibly shocked everyone.

"Why would you even think of that!?" Sokka yelled, which earned him a glare from Ultra Magnus, which visibly scared him. "Uh...sir."

"Imagine if your assumptions are correct Aang, Katara and Sokka, and he is still with the Fire Nation," Ultra Magnus explained. "What's to stop him from reporting our location to Starscream and having the Decepticon armada after us?"

"...Never thought about that actually," Sokka admitted.

"I hate to go looking for a fight, but Magnus is right," Aang said, disappointingly. "I don't think we have a choice."

"Maybe we should just invite him back here," Smokescreen suggested. "He already offered himself up as a prisoner once."

"Yeah...get to him and say he'll be our prisoner, then we'll jump him and REALLY make him our prisoner!" Sokka said. "He'll never suspect it!"

"You are a master of surprise Sokka," Katara sarcastically remarked.

* * *

Unknown to them however, Dreadwing stood upon a ledge, glaring at the team and prepped himself to fire his gattling gun, when he felt a fire blast from behind. He then turned to see Zuko there, taking a battle stance. Dreadwing then growled at his attacker and grabbed him before tossing him towards the group.

* * *

The group were about to depart when the heard someone screaming and suddenly Zuko flew to Toph and knocked her down. The group were about to attack him when Zuko saw Dreadwing coming up to the group.

"Behind you!" Zuko said. When they turned, Dreadwing swatted them away and the Bots got their weapons ready.

"Dreadwing!" everyone except Zuko exclaimed as they got ready to strike.

"More Autobots?" Dreadwing asked. "Good...that means more for me to slaughter in the name of my brother..."

"Dreadwing, listen to me!" Ultra Magnus demanded. "There's more to Skyquake's death than you know!" Dreadwing however didn't listen as he charged at Ultra Magnus, but Magnus reacted in time with a swing of his hammer and knocked him out.

"Smokescreen, ready a cortical psychic patch," Ultra Magnus ordered, to which the other Bots were shocked about.

"May I ask why sir?" Springer asked.

"There was more to the death of Dreadwing's twin than he knows," Ultra Magnus answered. "Powerglide, Warpath, you two stay with the humans. The rest of you, with me." He then took Dreadwing's body to an isolated location while his troops followed. Zuko then stood up and aproached the Gaang.

"I can't believe I'm saying this...but thanks Zuko," Aang said, still in shock that he came back to try and save them from Dreadwing.

"Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well," Zuko said. "I've been through a lot in the past few years, and it's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what's right. All I want now is to play my part in ending this war. And I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world." This time, Aang believed Zuko's words.

"As much as I believe your words Zuko, I still need to ask my friends if it's okay if you join us," Aang said. "Toph, what do you think?" After a few seconds Toph came to a conclusion.

"Go ahead and let him join," she said.

"Sokka?" Aang asked. Sokka just shrugged before giving his response.

"Hey, all I want to do is defeat the Firelord and Starscream," Sokka answered. "If you think this is the way to do it, then I'm all for it."

"Powerglide?" Aang asked the aerialbot.

"Eh, go ahead," Powerglide responded.

"Katara?" Aang asked. It took a bit more time for her to come with an answer, as Zuko waited anxiously for it, before she finally gave her conclusion.

"I'll go with whatever YOU think is right," Katara said to Aang, who smiled at Katara.

"Warpath?" Aang asked the rookie Bot. It was just him now, and frankly, he didn't trust Zuko one bit. However, the plan was for Aang to learn firebending, and it seems like Zuko was the only option.

"Fine," Warpath answered dryly.

"I won't let you down, I promise!" Zuko responded excitedly. With that, the group walked away.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dreadwing awoke in the Sea of Rust, where a massive battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons took place. Dreadwing's optics widened when he saw someone who looked almost exactly like him except with a green and red paint job.

"Skyquake!?" Dreadwing exclaimed. His twin could not hear him however, as he sneaked up to Optimus Prime and got his sword out.

"For the glory of Megatron!" Skyquake shouted ad he charged at Optimus, who reacted by kicking him to a collapsing wall, which tumbled onto him, killing him instantly. Dreadwing's optics widened in shock, watching his twin's demise as everything turned to black.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Dreadwing exclaimed before Ultra Magnus walked to him. Out of rage, Dreadwing got out his sword and charged at him, only for him to go through Magnus, much to his surprise.

"Where am I?" the seeker asked.

"This is my mind Dreadwing," Ultra Magnus answered. "These are my memories."

"Impossible, unless," Dreadwing responded before peacing together the pieces of the puzzle. "A cortical psychic patch?"

"Correct," Ultra Magnus responded.

"Why did you do bring me here Magnus?" Dreadwing asked.

"As I said, there was more to Skyquake's death than you knew Dreadwing," Ultra Magnus answered. "His death was mearely an unfortunate consequence of war, and he died honorably, as a warrior." Dreadwing just looked down, taking Magnus' words in.

"But then the Decepticons disgraced his honorable death," Ultra Magnus continued before they were again at the Sea of Rust, and Dreadwing saw Megatron walking to Skyquake's corpse with a dark energon crystal. "Dark Energon was rumored to revive the dead, so Megatron wanted to test that." What Dreadwing saw next consumed his face with horror. Megatron proceeded to jab the crystal into Skyquake's spark, and Skyquake started to glow a dark purple before standing up in a very zombie like fasion. Then everything went black again and Dreadwing fell to his knees, gasping in disbelief.

"Release me..." Dreadwing said after a few seconds.

"Dreadwing, please, join with the Autobots and end this meaningless conflict," Ultra Magnus said before Dreadwing rose upward.

"Betraying my kind does not mean accepting yours," Dreadwing responded. "I will follow my own path, allied to no one...so I ask again...release me."

"Very well then," Ultra Magnus said before the psychic patch was disconnected.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sokka was showing Zuko to his room in the temple.

"So here you go, home sweet home...I guess, you know, for now," Sokka said, still not believing that this was happening "Uh...welcome aboard?" Zuko turned ans smiled slightly before Sokka turned and walked out of Zuko's room.

"Okay, this is really, really wierd," he said as he walked off.

* * *

Katara in the meantime was walking to Zuko's room. She didn't trust him one bit and was going to give him his only warning, when Warpath blocked her way.

"Let me guess, you're going to tell me to lay off Zuko too?" Katara bluntly asked.

"Frag no..." Warpath responded, not in is usual energetic, positive mood which surprised Katara. "Let me handle this." Katara just nodded, not wanting to get in his way and walked away.

* * *

Zuko meanwhile was unpacking when he pulled out a small picture of Iroh and started to have another flashback.

* * *

_"If I have to, I will spend the rest of my life hunting the Avatar," Zuko said as he stood on the platform of the temple. "I know it's my destiny to capture him." Iroh then walked up and placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder._

_"You know Prince Zuko, destiny is a funny thing," he said. "You never know how things are going to work out. But if you keep an open mind and an open heart, I promise you will find your own destiny someday."_

* * *

Zuko smiled slightly, remembering his uncle's words before he heard heavy footsteps and turned to see Warpath entering his room. Zuko was about to say something when Warpath interrupted him.

"I don't care that you somehow got the others believing your 'transformation,'" Warpath said in a more rugged and venomous voice than usual before he walked to Zuko. "I've seen Bots back on Cybertron that convinced us that they fight for us, but in the end, they ended up stabbing us in the back. So I'm only going to give you one warning. Just ONE slip up, ONE step backwards, give me just ONE reason you might hurt my friends, and you and your 'destiny' go...kapowie." With that, Warpath leaves an intimidated Zuko to take those words in.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dreadwing stood on the edge of a cliff as a thunderstorm raged on and yelled to the heavens in anger.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	21. The Firebending Masters

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon.**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 21: The Firebending Masters

* * *

In the underground Decepticon base, Starscream, sitting on Megatron's throne, was milking every moment he could since he was finally leader of the Decepticons. However, something did worry him. A Decepticon warrior named Cyclonus. Not only was he as loyal to Megatron as Soundwave, if not more, but he grew more and more suspicious of what really happened. So he needed to keep him busy while he ensured that Cyclonus would never know what happened. Just then, an opportunity came forward. A group of Decepticon scouts had found energon in the ancient ruins of what the firebenders called 'The Sun Warriors.' All he had to do was assign Cyclonus to investigate and destroy any evidence. With that thought, he activated the intercom.

"Cyclonus, a word with you," he said.

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Meanwhile, in one of the upside down pagodas of the Western Air Temple, Aang was ready for his first firebending lesson from Zuko.

"I know you're nervous, but remember, firebending in and of itself is NOT something to fear," Zuko stated.

"Okay, not something to fear," Aang responded, slightly hesitant and looking unsure.

"But if you don't respect it, **IT'LL CHEW YOU UP AND SPIT YOU OUT LIKE AN ANGRY KOMODO RHINO!**" Zuko shouted, to which Aang reacted by yelping in fear.

"Now show me what you've got," Zuko said. Aang then took a deep breath and gets in the position to firebend, but all that comes out is a small cloud of smoke that dissipates in a second.

"...Maybe I need a little more instruction," Aang suggested. "Perhaps a demonstration?"

"Good idea," Zuko replied. "You might want to take a couple steps back." Aang responded by doing just that before Zuko breathed deeply and proceeds to firebend...only for a pathetic burst of flame to come out. Aang simply applauded, not wanting to anger Zuko.

"What was that!?" Zuko asked in confusion. "That was the worst firebending I've ever seen!"

"I thought it was...nice," Aang replied before shrugging. Zuko kept trying, firebending in a rapid pace, but all the flames he produced were just as pathetic as the first one.

"Why is this happening!?" Zuko yelled while staring at his palms.

"Maybe it's the altitude," Aang suggested.

"Could be," Zuko replied.

* * *

The duo decided to move to a much lower elevation and try again. Aang again watched as Zuko got into position to firebend, but the results were the same as before: pathetic bursts of fire. Zuko was clearly frustrated while Aang simply yawned and lied down.

"Just breathe, and..." Zuko said before trying again, but the results were the same.

"That one kind of felt hot," Aang said as he sat up.

"Don't patronize me!" Zuko shouted in frustration. "You know what it's suppose to look like!"

"Sorry Sifu Hotman," Aang replied.

"And stop calling me that!" Zuko yelled, which caused Aang to cringe before Sokka walked in, eating an apple and sitting down.

"Hey JERKS," he remarked. "Mind if I watch you two JERKS do your JERK bending?"

"Get out of here!" Zuko shouted.

"Okay, take it easy," Sokka replied, looking amused as he gets up and drops his apple core before walking away. "I was just kidding around. Heh, jerk bending, still got it." Zuko's reaction was to drop his head down and moan in annoyance.

* * *

Later that night, Zuko aproached the group while the Gaang was telling the five new Autobots their situation.

"Listen everybody," Zuko said, which got everyone's attention. "I've got some pretty bad news. I've lost my stuff."

"HeyHeyHey, Don'tLookAtMe, IDidn'tGoNearYourStuff, WhatWouldABotLikeMeWantWi-" Blurr started before Springer promptly slapped his hand onto Blurr's mouth to promptly shut him up.

"I'm talking about my firebending...It's gone," Zuko said before dropping his head dejectedly. Katara however for some reason started laughing, much to Zuko's annoyance.

"I'm sorry," Katara said. "I'm just laughing at the irony. You know...how it would have been nice for us if you lost your firebending a long time ago?"

"Well it's not lost, it's just...weaker for some reason." Zuko corrected.

"Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are," Warpath muttered.

"Ouch," both Toph and Springer replied.

"I bet it's because I changed sides," Zuko suggested.

"That's ridiculous," Katara responded as she drank the contents in a bowl.

"I don't know," Aang replied. "Maybe it isn't. Maybe your firebending comes from rage, and you just don't have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to."

"So we just need to make him angry," Smokescreen said. "Easy, just have Blurr start a conversation with him." That remark earned him a glare from said Autobot.

"Oooor, just keep doing this," Sokka added before he went up to Zuko and nudged him repeatedly with the hilt of his sword while laughing.

"**OKAY, CUT IT OUT!**" Zuko yelled which caused Sokka to immediately stop and drop his sword onto his head. "Look, even if you're right, I don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way."

"You're gonna need to learn to draw your firebending from a different source," Toph suggested. "I recommend the original source."

"How's he gonna do that?" Springer asked. "By jumping into one of these 'volcanoes?'"

"No, Zuko needs to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is," Toph answered. "For earthbending, the original benders were the badgermoles. One day, when I was little, I ran away and hid in a cave. That's where I met them."

* * *

_Inside a cave, Toph, now a little girl, was kneeling in a dark cave, crying, before the wall behind her crumbles as a_ _badgermole walks towards her. Not knowing what was coming, since she has yet to discover 'seeing with her feet,' she was_ _terrified, at least until the creature sniffed her. Toph responded by sniffing back before the badgermole licked her_ _cheek. Toph responded by giggling in delight. The badgermole then started to move away, but Toph followed by crawling like_ _the creature towards it._

* * *

"They were blind, just like me, so we understood each other," Toph continued. "I was able to learn earthbending, not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses. For them, the original earthbenders, it wasn't just about fighting. It was their war of interacting with the world."

"That's amazing Toph," Aang replied. "I learned from the monks, but the original airbenders were the Sky Bison." He then turned to Appa, who was eating a stack of hay.

"Maybe you can give me a lesson sometime buddy," Aang said to his friend, who grunted in acknowledgement."

"Well this doesn't help me," Zuko solomly said. "The original firebenders were the dragons, and they're extinct."

"What do you mean?" Aang asked. "Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid."

"Well they aren't around anymore, okay!?" Zuko defensively shouted.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Aang replied before moving his arms around in an appeasing manner.

"But maybe there's another way," Zuko added as he walked away and towards a ledge. "The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors."

"Sun Warriors?" Aang asked as he walked to Zuko. "Well I know THEY weren't around when I was a kid."

"No, they died off thousands of years ago, but their civilization wasn't too far from where we are now," Zuko replied. "Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins."

"It's like the monks used to tell me," Aang said. "Sometimes, the shadows of the past can be felt by the present."

"So what?" Sokka asked. "Maybe you'll pick up some super old Sun Warrior energy just by standing where they stood 1000 years ago?"

"More or less," Zuko responded. "Either I find a new way to firebend, or the Avatar has to find a new teacher."

"I'll go with you," Ultra Magnus said as he stood up.

"No offence sir, but why?" Arcee asked.

"I've been gaining an interest in this world and it's features," Magnus replied. "And I'm quite interested in these 'Sun Warriors' that Zuko mentioned. Besides, you may need some protection in case you've been spotted by the Decepticons."

"Good idea," Aang replied. "Warpath, you mind letting Magnus borrow your jetpack?" Without even saying a word, Warpath simply handed Ultra Magnus his jetpack while remaining seated. With that, the trio departed.

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, Cyclonus walked toward Starscream at the courtyard after recieving his transmission.

"You requested to see me Lord Starscream?" Cyclonus asked, hiding his distrust of the seeker.

"We have received word of the existance of energon in the ruins of an ancient civilization called 'The Sun Warriors,'" Starscream explained. "I request that you and Sixshot head there to investigate."

"It will be done," Cyclonus responded before transforming into a Cybertronian jet and flying away. Starscream in the meantime needed to speak with a certain Fire Nation princess.

* * *

Azula, now in her royal gown, was currently busy having her hair groomed by her servants in the ornate palace room when Starscream suddenly stepped in. Azula motioned for her servants to leave the room, leaving only her and the new Decepticon leader.

"What is it now 'Lord' Starscream?" Azula asked in a slightly bored tone.

"We have a problem," Starscream answered, getting right to the chase before showing a hologram of Cyclonus. "His name is Cyclonus, and he may have suspicious of what REALLY happened when Megatron was killed. If word gets out, the Decepticons will surely have me dismantled for spare parts!"

"Why should this concern me?" Azula asked. Without warning, Starscream suddenly grabbed her and brought her to his face.

"Listen to me you spoiled little brat, if word gets out and I go, I WILL ensure that YOU go with me!" Starscream responded with venom in his voice. "And when Ozai finds out that the Decepticons have murdered his own daughter, then this alliance will end and the Autobots will CRUSH the Fire Nation. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Azula answered, not at all intimidated.

"Good," Starscream responded before putting Azula down. "Now I've assigned Cyclonus on a mission to scout an area for energon which should buy us some time to destroy any evidence of our involvement in Megatron's demise."

"Understood," Azula said. With that, Starscream started to leave the room, though not without a lightning blast narowly missing him by inches, causing the seeker to scream like a little girl. He turned to see Azula standing there with smoke coming out of her fingertips.

"Don't touch me again," Azula warned.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang and Zuko, both on Appa, and Ultra Magnus, who flew beside them using Warpath's jetpack, were searching for the ruins of the Sun Warriors' village. Zuko was obviously impatient.

"We've been riding for hours," he complained. "I don't know why, but I thought this thing would be a lot faster." Appa's response was to growl slightly.

"Appa's right Zuko," Aang responded. "In our group, typically we start out our missions with a more upbeat attitude."

"I fail to see how this will get us to the Sun Warriors' village faster," Magnus said. Then, out of the clouds, the group spotted ancient ruins that resembled that of the Mayans.

"Whoa..." was all Aang, Zuko and Magnus could say before they descended on to the ruins. Aang and Zuko then got off Appa and walked through a small valley while Ultra Magnus followed close behind.

"Even though these buildings are ancient, there's something eerily familiar about them," Zuko stated. "I can tell the Fire Sages' temples are somehow descended from these."

"Okay, we learned something about the architecture," Aang said. "Hopefully we'll learn something about firebending too."

"It's like what Optimus always said," Ultra Magnus added. "'The past can be a great teacher.'" Without warning though, Aang accidently tripped on a wire and the ground he would have landed dropped to reveal a bed of spikes. A terrified Aang then exhaled a huge gust of air to prevent himself from falling into the spikes and propelled himself to the other side.

"Guys, I think the past is trying to kill me!" Aang exclaimed in fear.

"I can't believe it," Zuko said as he kneeled down to inspect the wire. "This booby trap must be centuries old."

"Yet it still works?" Ultra Magnus asked in slight disbelief.

"There's probably a lot more," Aang stated. "Maybe this means we shouldn't be here." Suddenly, Zuko took a step back and ran on the wall before landing in front of Aang while Magnus merely stepped over the spikes.

"Where's that upbeat attitude you were talking about?" Zuko asked.

"Besides, in all my years fighting the Decepticons, I know that one doesn't make traps unless they have something worth hiding," Magnus stated before they continued walking.

Soon they made it to a grand structure that seems to be intact. The trio then walked up the stairs to the top of the structure.

"This seems promising," Ultra Magnus said as they neared a carving of a person surrounded by circles of fire coming out of two carved dragons on each side of him. "These 'dragons' as you call them remind me of a subspeices of Cybertronians that went extinct millions of years ago. The Predacons."

"Though I'm not sure what this tells us of the original source of firebending," Aang added.

"They look pretty angry to me," Zuko remarked, obviously reffering to the dragons.

"I thought that the dragons were friendly with the un Warriors," Ultra Magnus said.

"Well, they had a funny way of showing it," Zuko responded before looking away and taking a few steps.

"Zuko, something happened to the dragons in the last hundred years," Aang said. "Something you're not telling me."

"My great-grandfather Sozin happened," Zuko bluntly responded before the three of them walked across a stone bridge. "He started the tradition of hunting dragons for glory. They were the ultimate firebenders. And if you could conquer one, your firebending talents would become legendary, and you'd earn the honorary title 'Dragon.'" They then made it to two dragon statues at the end of the bridge, one of them missing its head.

"The last great dragon was conqured long before I was born...by my uncle," Zuko continued. His last statement got Aang's attention.

"But I thought your uncle was, I don't know, good?" Aang asked.

"He had a complicated past," Zuko explained. "Family tradition, I guess. Let's just move on."

The three of them then made it to a structure with two yellow doors and a red jewel above them, with a column with another red jewel embedded in the center close it it. Magnus attempted to open the doors, but to no avail.

"No use," he stated. "It's locked up."

"Wait," Zuko said as he stepped aside to reveal a beam of red light emitting from the jewel and resting on a circle in the ground. "It's a celestial calendar. Just like the Fire Sages have in their temples. I bet that Sun Stone opens the door, but only when sunlight hits it at just the right angle, on the solstice."

"Monkey feathers!" Aang exclaimed. "The solstice again? We can't wait here that long."

"But I bet we might be able to speed time up," Magnus said as he used the shining material on his arm to try and redirect the beam of light to the stone above the doors. "Let's see if we can outsmart the Sun Stone." He then adjusted his arm to where the beam successfully hit the Sun Stone. Said stone then started to glow brightly.

"Nothing's happening," Aang said.

"Come on..." Magnus whispered while keeping his arm in the same position. Suddenly the ground started to shake and the doors opened slowly, revealing a room full of statues, which frightened Aang slightly.

"Relax," Zuko said. "They're just statues."

"I'll wait outside and watch for Decepticons," Magnus stated as Aang and Zuko walked inside and observed the statues which formed some kind of ring.

"It says this is something called The Dancing Dragon," Aang stated as he read the description at the foot of one of the statues. He then attempted to imitate the position the statue was in when suddenly a plate sunk under his feet. Surprised, Aang steps off the plate to observe it when it moved back into position. He then looked around and suddenly an idea formed in his head before he ran up to Zuko and grabbed him by the elbow.

"Zuko, get over here," he said. "I want you to dance with me."

"What!?" Zuko exclaimed as he pulled his elbow away.

"Just do it," Aang said as he dragged him away and positioned him to a statue next to the one Aang stood in front of. "Let's follow the steps of the statues." Both of them then mimicked the statues' positions and stepped on two tiles. Surprised, Zuko started moving in synchronization with Aang.

"Don't you see?" Aang asked. "These aren't dance moves. These statues are giving us a lesson. I think this is some kind of Sun Warrior firebending form."

"This better teach us some really good firebending," Zuko remarked before they finished the final position. Then a hole appeared in the center of the room and a pedestal with a golden egg-like object came up from it.

"Hurray!" Aang shouted in joy before looking confused. "Wait, what exactly is that?"

"It's some kind of mystical gem stone," Zuko answered as he ran to it, much to Aang's dismay.

"Well don't touch it!" Aang shoted.

"Why not?" Zuko asked.

"Remember what happened out there with those spikes?" Aang asked. "I'm just very suspicious of giant, glowing gems sitting on pedestals." Apparently though Zuko has never seen Raiders of the Lost Ark and took the gem stone.

"It feels almost alive," Zuko stated before he tried to put back the gem stone when suddenly a jet of green goo spurts out and sends Zuko to the grating in the ceiling, sticking him there. Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, the doors closed, surprising Ultra Magnus.

"What the-," he said before he tried to bash the doors down. "Aang! Zuko! What's going on in there!?"

"Oh no, it's another trap!" Aang shouted back inside as more goo flowed from the pedestal and he backed away cautiously. Zuko meanwhile tried to free himself from the goo that was sticking him to the cealing, but he and the gemstone were stuck there tightly.

"Ugh, I can't pull free!" he shouted as he kept struggling. "It's like some kind of glue!" Aang tried his best to evade the goo that kept flowing into the room before airbending a gust to Zuko to try and free him, but it only turned him right side up, and he was still stuck. Aang then jumpped up to the grating as the goo rapidly engulfed the room.

"I can't move!" Aang exclaimed as he tried to budge the metal bars. "Zuko, do something!"

"Me, I can't move either!" Zuko replied before Ultra Magnus ran up to them from the outside.

"What in the name of Primus happened!?" he asked.

"Long story," Zuko replied. "Just try and see if you can free us." Magnus then bent down and tried to pull off the bars, but not only would they not budge, Magnus' hands got stuck too.

"Gah! What the frag!?" he exclaimed as Aang and Zuko looked annoyed that that didn't work.

"At least we have air," Zuko stated, trying to think of the positives. "Maybe if we stay calm we can figure a way out of this."

* * *

Meanwhile, Cyclonus and the Decepticon six-changer known as 'Sixshot' landed at the sight where the energon was reported to be sighted. As they walked to their designated location, Sixshot could notice something about Cyclonus.

"Something on your mind Cyclonus?" he asked.

"Starscream..." Cyclonus answered, almost spitting the seeker's name out.

"You don't trust him?" Sixshot asked which earned a scoff from Cyclonus.

"I trust that deceptive seeker no more than I can throw Metroplex," Cyclonus answered. "If you ask me, he had something to do with Lord Megatron's demise."

"Frankly I don't care who's the leader," Sixshot said. "So long as I get to kill some Autobots, they can appoint Thunderblast to lead us for all I care." Cyclonus just shot a glare at the former Decepticon ninja before they made it to a cave.

"This is the location Starscream told us about," Cyclonus stated as they walked inside and saw energon as far as the optic could see.

"Looks like the reports were true," Sixshot stated. "Now let's go and report this to Starscream." Suddenly, they heard a sound. It sounded like a boy screaming '**HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!**'

"What was that?" Cyclonus asked.

"Something or someone that I'm gonna blow the frag out of," Sixshot stated as he ran out of the cave, itching for some action. Cyclonus was about to join him when something that was glowing purple caught him by the crack of his optic.

"I-it can't be," Cyclonus stated in disbelief.

"Cyclonus, come on!" Sixshot shouted impatiently as Cyclonus grabbed the object and ran off to join with Sixshot.

* * *

Back with Aang, Zuko and Ultra Magnus, it had been hours and day had turned into night. Unfortunately, the situation had not improved in the slightest.

"You HAD to pick up the glowing egg, didn't you?" Aang remarked to Zuko.

"At least I made something happen!" Zuko argued. "If it were up to you, we'd never have made it pass the courtyard!"

"**HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!**" Aang suddenly shouted.

"WHO are you yelling to!?" Ultra Magnus asked. "Zuko said it himself. Nobody's lived here for centuries."

"Well, what do you think we should do?" Aang asked.

"...Think about our place in the Universe?" Zuko suggested to which Aang sighed to. Suddenly, they could hear someone come to them.

"Who is down there?" someone asked. The trio looked over to see a man in tribal gear wearing a Chieftian's hat and warpaint on his face, which visably shocked the three of them. Unknown even to this mysterious person though, Cyclonus and Sixshot watched them from the shadows.

"The Avatar," Cyclonus stated.

"And Ultra Magnus..." Sixshot added. He was about to strike when Cyclonus stopped him.

"No," he said. "We must strike at the propper moment."

* * *

The three of them were eventually removed by more mysterious from the cealing as two giant anteaters licked the goo that encased them clean. The first person, supposedly the chief of the group, was clearly not happy.

"For trying to take our Sun Stone, you must be severely punished!" he shouted.

"We didn't come here to take your Sun Stone," Ultra Magnus corrected.

"We came here to find the ancient origin of all firebending," Zuko added.

"Yeah, right," one of the Sun Warriors named Ham Gao, who was beside the chief, remarked. "They are obviously thieves, here to steal Sun Warrior treasures."

"Please, I don't normally play this card, but...I'm the Avatar," Aang stated. "Just hear us out."

"My name is Zuko, crown prince of the fire nation," Zuko stated. "I know my people have distorted the ways of firebending, to be fueled by anger and rage. But now I want to learn the true way, the original way. When we came here, I never imagined the Sun Warrior civilization was secretly alive. I am truly humbled to be in your presence. Please, teach us."

"And you?" the chief asked, obviously reffering to the giant robot that was with them.

"I'm just here to learn about this world, and to protect these two from harm," Magnus answered before the chief turned back to Aang and Zuko.

"If you wish to learn the ways of the Sun, you must learn them from the masters Ran and Shao," the chief responded.

"There's two of them?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"When you present yourselves to them, they will examine you," the chief explained. "They'll read your hearts, your souls, and your ancestry. If they deem you worthy, they'll teach you. If they don't, you'll be destroyed on the spot."

* * *

With that, Aang, Zuko, Ultra Magnus and the Sun Warriors walked to the top of another temple where a tall flame burned fiercely in front of them.

"If you're going to see the masters, you must bring them a piece of the eternal flame," the chief explained. "This fire is the very first one."

"I've heard many stories of how fire was brought to the humans," Ultra Magnus said. "From a spirit named Prometheus bringing it to them to early civilization discovering it by accident. Do you happen to know which of the stories are true?"

"There are many stories that were told, but none were true," the chief explained. "The truth is that the eternal flame was given to man by the dragons. We have kept it going for thousands of years."

"I don't believe it," Zuko said, bewildered that he was standing in front of the first flame ever produced.

"The two of you will each take a piece to the masters, to show your commitment to the sacred art of firebending," the chief continued.

"Um, Mr. Sun Chief sir?" Aang asked, unsure of his current firebending skills. "Yeah... I'm not a firebender yet. Couldn't my friend here carry my fire for me?"

"No," the chief sternly replied, much to Aang's dismay, as he firebended two flames from the eternal flame. "This ritual illustrates the essence of Sun Warrior philosophy. You must maintain a constant heat. The flame will go out if you make it too small. Make it too big, and you might lose control." He then proceeded to hand the two of them each flame and Zuko responded by firebending it to himself. Aang however was still unsure.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm just a little nervous." He then proceeded to gather the flame, looking at it in awe.

"It's like a little heartbeat," he stated.

"Fire is life, not just destruction," the chief stated while Aang reassured himself with a smile. "You will take your flames up there." He then motioned to a rocky mountain that was nearby the structure they were on.

"The cave of the masters is beneath that rock," the chief continued.

"Excuse me, but what about Ultra Magnus?" Aang asked. The bot in question was busy gazing at the eternal flame in awe.

"I will stay with the Sun Warriors while the two of you see the masters," he answered as he turned back to the duo. "It isn't my business to interfere with your task. Besides, I would like to know a bit more about the Sun Warriors' culture, if the chief does not mind of course."

"As as many questions as you may," the chief replied.

* * *

With that, Aang and Zuko were off to the mountain where the cave of the masters was located. They had made it to a forest, still carrying their flames, when Zuko noticed that Aang was lagging quite a distance behind him.

"Hurry up," Zuko bluntly said.

"I can't," Aang responded as he looked at his flame, noticing it was getting smaller. "If I wal too fast, my flame will go out."

"Your flame's gonna go out because it's too small," Zuko corrected. "You're too timid. Give it more juice."

"But what if I can't control it?" Aang asked, slightly worried.

"You can do it," Zuko responded reassuringly. "I know you can. You're a talented kid." Those words caused Aang to smile slightly as he and Zuko moved on.

* * *

Eventually, the two of them arrived at their destination, and the Sun Warriors and Ultra Magnus were there waiting for them. Some of the Sun Warriors were in a sitting position while others, including the chief, were standing. Behind them was a tall staircase that lead to two caves to the left and the right.

"Facing the judgment of the firebending masters will be very dangerous for you," the chief said as he walked to the duo before turning to Zuko. "Your ancestors are directly responsible for the dragons' disappearances. The masters might not be so happy to see you." Those words caused Zuko to look to the side in shame.

"I know I wouldn't be," Ham Gao added, trying to intimidate Zuko. Ultra Magnus responded by shooting a glare at him.

"But once they find out I'm the Avatar..." Aang started before the chief interupted him.

"Have you forgotten that you vanished allowing the Fire Nation to wreak havoc on the world?" he asked. "The decline of the dragons is your burden too." Aang then too turned his head away, feeling guilty of the day he vanished a hundred years ago. The chief then drove his staff to the ground, and the Sun Warriors got into their positions. The chief then firebended a piece of each flame from Zuko and Aang and placed them onto two Sun Warriors' palms. He then grabbed his staff as the fire was passed onto multiple Sun Warriors, who each firebended a circular shape.

"We could turn back now," Aang suggested as he showed Zuko that he could handle his fire with a weak smile. "We've already learned more about fire than we hoped."

"No, we're seeing this through to the end," Zuko responded. "We're gonna meet these masters and find out what's so great about them."

"What if they judge us and attack us?" Aang asked.

"Well, we're the Fire Prince and the Avatar," Zuko answered as he unsheathed his broadswords slightly with a smile. "I think we can take these guys in a fight, whoever they are." Aang responded by nodding, but still felt uneasy.

"Bring 'em out," Zuko said as the passing of the flame was complete.

"Chanters!" the chief shouted as the Sun Warriors began chanting while sitting down and beating on their drums in a synchronized rhythm. Aang and Zuko then started walking up the staircase as Ultra Magnus did nothing except watch and hope for the best. The Sun Warriors then stopped chanting and beating on their drums once Aang and Zuko reached the top. The two of them then looked at the caves on each side of the bridge they were on.

"Those who wish to meet the masters Ran and Shao will now present their fire," one of the Sun Warriors said, using a megaphone-like object so the duo could hear him. They then turned towards the caves and bowed down with their hands extended in front of them, their flames still burning.

"Sound the call," the chief commanded before another warrior used a wind instrument produce a loud sound. Soon the caves started rumbling, which caused Aang to look back at Zuko in fear.

"What's happening?" Aang asked. Zuko merely responded by giving Aang a puzzled look. Aang then went back to his original position, only to gasp in horror when he realized that when he turned to face Zuko, he accidently extinguished his flame.

"Zuko, my fire went out," he whispered to Zuko.

"What do you want ME to do?" Zuko whispered back.

"Give me some of yours," Aang replied as he reached for Zuko's fire, only for Zuko to push him back.

"No, just make your own," Zuko responded.

"I can't," Aang said as he again reached for Zuko's flame.

"Get some from one of those warriors," Zuko suggested. "Hurry! Stop cheating off me!"

"Quit being stingy!" Aang said in an irritated tone, as he kept trying to get Zuko's flame, only for his flame to suddenly be extinguished as well eventually. Both of them then looked at each other in horror.

"They're fragged, aren't they?" Ultra Magnus asked the chief, concerned.

"Probably," the chief bluntly replied as the caves started rumbbling, and the last thing Aang and Zuko expected emerged from them: two dragons, one red and one blue, roaring and flying around the duo. To say the least, Aang and Zuko were overwhelemed at the pressance of two creatures they thought were extinct for years. Ultra Magnus meanwhile, was too in awe.

"Incredible..." was all he could say as he looked up to the creatures.

"These are the masters," Zuko stated, still in shock as the dragons circled around Aang and Zuko.

"You still think we can take 'em?" Aang whispered.

"Shh, I never said that," Zuko immediately responded, hoping the dragons didn't hear them. The warriors at the bottom then bowed down to the masters. It took a while for Ultra Magnus to get the message and bow with them.

"Oh, here it comes," Ham Gao remarked with a smirk on his face. "Any moment now...dinner for the masters."

"Quiet Ham Gao," the chief immediately commanded.

"What?" he asked. "Everyone's thinking it." Meanwhile, the dragons continued to fly around the two boys when Aang noticed their elaborate formation of twists, turns and curves.

"Zuko, I think we're supposed to do The Dragon Dance with them," Aang whispered.

"What? What about this situation that you think they want us to dance?" Zuko asked.

"Well, I think they want us to do something," Aang replied. "Let's just try it."

"Fine," Zuko replied before they proceeded to do The Dragon Dance, Aang doing it next to the blue dragon, Zuko doing it next to the red dragon. One could notice the movements of the boys compared to the movements of the dragons were quite similar. Once the dance was complete, the two dragons then flew to each side of the bridge and landed.

"Judgement time," the chief declared, not moving from his position. Needless to say, Aang and Zuko were terrified as both dragons looked upon them, the blue dragon snarling at Zuko. Then, suddenly, the creatures lifted up and breathed fire from their mouths, towards the boys. The two of them yelled in fear before they noticed the flames were surrounding them, not engulfing them, and that the flames were forming in multiple colors. The duo looked up at the vortex in shock and wonder ad the two of them gasped in amasement and realization.

"I understand," Zuko stated as the flames slowly dissapated and the chief and Ultra Magnus walked up the steps to them.

"Their fire was beautiful," Zuko said. "I saw so many colors, colors I've never imagined."

"Like firebending harmony," Aang added.

"Yes. They judged you, and gave you visions of the meaning of firebending," the chief stated.

"I can't believe there are still living dragons," Zuko said as he looked at the dragons, who were still on the sides of the bridge. "My Uncle Iroh said he faced the last dragon and killed it."

"So your uncle lied?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Actually, it wasn't a total lie," the chief answered in a smile. "Iroh was the last outsider to face the masters. They deemed him worthy and passed the secret onto him as well."

"He must have lied to protect them, so no one else would hunt them," Zuko said as his eyes widened in surprise.

"All this time, I thought firebending was destruction," Aang started. "Since I hurt Katara, I've been too afraid and hesitant. But now I know what it really is... it's energy, and life."

"Yeah, it's like the Sun, but inside of you," Zuko added before he turned to Aang. "That's why my firebending was so weak before. Because for so many years, hunting you was my drive... it was my purpose. So when I joined you, I lost sight of my inner fire. But now, I have a new drive. I have to help you defeat my father and restore balance to the world." Suddenly, everyone then heard the roar of jet engines from the distance. They then turned to see two Cybertronian jets coming towards them. Ultra Magnus' optics then widened in horror as he realized who they were.

"GET DOWN!" he shouted as the jets started firing at them. Aang, Zuko, Magnus, the chief and the dragons reacted just in time before they were blasted to oblivion.

"What are those mechanical monstrosities!?" the chief asked in shock.

"Decepticons..." Ultra Magnus growled as he readied his hammer. Sure enough, it was the alt modes of Cyclonus and Sixshot.

"Cyclonus, do what you wish to the prince and the Avatar, but leave Ultra Magnus to me!" Sixshot stated as he transformed into his robot mode and tackled Ultra Magnus to the ground. Meanwhile, Cyclonus transformed into his robot mode and looked at the dragons, unimpressed.

"So, these are the legendary 'dragons' that the Fire Nation has spoken of," he said as the dragons snarled to him. "Nightstick, transform!" With that, a small Decepticon Targetmaster named 'Nightstick' shot out of his back and transformed into a gun, which Cyclonus grabbed and started shooting at the dragons. The chief then firebended at Cyclonus to defend his masters, but Cyclonus merely dodged it and started shooting at the Sun Warriors who came to the dragons' aid, killing a few of them.

While that was going on, Sixshot tossed Ultra Magnus into a rock and transformed into a giant cannon and started shooting at him. Magnus quickly dodged the blast before it hit him and got his hammer ready, but Sixshot suddenly split into six identical cannons, laughing mockingly at Ultra Magnus, but the Autobot commander smirked, much to the ninja's surprise.

"This old trick again Sixshot?" he asked. "I though you were better than that." Suddenly, missile launchers deployed from his shoulders and fired at the six cannons. The blast caused five of them to disappear, and one of them, the real Sixshot, to fly backwards. Sixshot responded by transforming into a Cybertronian armored car and drove to Ultra Magnus, firing from the cannon attached on the hood. Ultra Magnus unfourtunately could not avoid it and fell to the ground, dropping his hammer before Sixshot turned into a Cybertronian tiger and pinned him down.

Meanwhile, Aang and Zuko watched in horror as Cyclonus continued shooting at the Sun Warriors and the dragons.

"We have to do something," Zuko said. "They can't handle this creep alone." Aang nodded in understanding and joined the dragons in their next attack, synchronizing their movements before they firebended huge blasts of fire with the dragons at Cyclonus. Fortunately, it was too late for him to dodge ad the fire hits him dead on, damaging his weapons and destroying Nightstick. Cyclonus tried to get up when the Sun Warriors started firebending at him.

The blasts distracted Sixshot as he looked up to the scene, still in his tiger mode, not knowing that doing so allowed Ultra Magnus to grab his hammer and bash him with it. The ninja was sent flying as he transformed into his robot mode and then he crashed into a pile of rocks.

"We have what we need Sixshot!" Cyclonus yelled to him. "We must fall back!" With that, Cyclonus transformed and flew away while Sixshot shot a glare at Ultra Magnus.

"This isn't over Magnus!" he shouted as he transformed into his jet mode and flew off with Cyclonus while Aang, Zuko, Ultra Magnus and the chief watched them fly away from the kingdom and into the horizon.

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, Rumble was minding his own business when he spotted Cyclonus and Sixshot walking to the Decepticon base, with ashes and dents all over their bodies.

"What happened to you?" he asked. The two Cons just glared at the deployer before Sixshot responded.

"Don't ask," he dryly said before they walked into the base. Rumble just shrugged and kept walking.

* * *

Meanwhile, after the trio had made it back to the Western Air Temple, Aang and Zuko were demonstrating to the rest of the group the techniques they had learned.

"With this technique the dragons showed us, Zuko and I would be unstoppable," Aang said before they had finished The Dragon Dance and the group applauded.

"Yeah, that's a great dance you two learned there," Sokka remarked.

"It's not a dance," Zuko responded defensively. "It's a firebending form."

"We'll just tap-dance our way to victory over the Fire Lord and Starscream," Sokka joked.

"It's a sacred form that happens to be thousands of years old!" Zuko shouted.

"Oh yeah? What's your little form called?" Katara asked in a slightly mocking manner.

"...The Dancing Dragon," Zuko replied embarassingly. The group responded by laughing while Zuko tried to control his temper.

* * *

While that was going on, Azula and Starscream were discussing what they had done while Cyclonus was away.

"You are certain that you destroyed the footage and wipped the throne room clean of ANY evidence that may point to us for Megatron's demise?" Starscream asked.

"I am certain Starscream," Azula responded.

"Good, because if ANYONE discovers ANY evidence left behind I WILL-" Starscream started before Cyclonus and Sixshot walked into the room.

"What happened?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow at their condition.

"We spotted the Avatar and Zuko while we were scouting the area," Cyclonus replied.

"Ugh," Starscream said, rubbing his optics with his fingers, clearly annoyed that his troops still keep getting their tailpipes kicked by CHILDREN. "Did you at least discover the location of the energon?"

"Yes Lord Starscream," Sixshot responded.

"Excellent," Starscream replied. "Have a mining team head down there now. You are dismissed." The two Cons then bowed before leaving the room. Sixshot went to tell the news to a mining team while Cyclonus went to a secluded area and looked at the object he found earlier...a dark energon crystal.

"Soon my one true master, you will rise again," Cyclonus said before walking away.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	22. The Boiling Rock part 1

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon.**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 22: The Boiling Rock part 1

* * *

At the Southern Air Temple, the Gaang, the Autobots, and their new ally, Zuko, were sitting down, waiting for Zuko to finish some tea that he was brewing.

"No one can make tea like Uncle, but hopefully I learned a thing or two," Zuko said.

"What is tea?" Ultra Magnus asked, still not used to Earth customs.

"It's basically like the energon we drank back on Cybertron, only for humans," Powerglide explained.

"Would you like to hear Uncle's favorite tea joke?" Zuko asked as he passed cups of tea to the humans.

"Sure," Katara responded.

"I like jokes," Aang replied.

"Meh, sure," Warpath bluntly answered.

"Okay, well I can't remember how it starts, but the punch line is: 'Leaf me alone, I'm bushed!'" Zuko said, only to receive the uncomfortable silence of nobody laughing. "Well, it's funnier when Uncle tells it."

"Maybe that's because he remembers how the fraggin thing started," Warpath responded before Zuko went back to passing tea around.

"It's nice to get a chance to relax a little," Toph said.

"Yeah, hardly ever happens," Smokescreen added. Zuko then came up to Sokka, who seemed so downcast about something.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Sokka asked him, which immediately got Warpath's attention as the two of them got up and walked to a separate area to talk in private.

"So what's up?" Zuko asked as they passed Appa, who gave a low groan.

"If, someone was captured by the Fire Nation, where would they be taken?" Sokka asked.

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked, not sure of what Sokka ment. "Who was captured?"

"When the invasion plan failed, some of our troops were taken along with the Autobots," Sokka explained. "I just want to know what would happen to them."

"I can't tell you," Zuko answered with his head down, no doubt knowing where they might have been taken.

"What? Why not?" Sokka asked.

"Trust me, knowing would just make you feel worse," Zuko answered. He was about to turn and leave when Sokka grabbed his shoulder.

"It's my dad," Sokka admitted. "He was captured too. I need to know what I put him through."

"It's not good Sokka," Zuko replied.

"Please," Sokka said before Zuko turned to finally tell him where his father might be.

"My guess is...they were taken to he Boiling Rock," Zuko responded.

"What's that?" Sokka asked.

"The highest security prison in the Fire Nation, maybe even the world since the Deceprticons came here," Zuko answered.

"What do you mean Zuko?" Sokka asked.

"Before the invasion, Megatron and my father appointed this Decepticon scientist named 'Shockwave' as the warden, and agreed to let him experiment on the prisoners as he pleased," Zuko answered, which caused Sokka's eyes to widen in fear for his father. "The prison's on an island in the middle of the Boiling Lake. Even before the Cons came here, it was inescapable. I can only imagine how the Cons have improved security."

"Where is this place?" Sokka asked.

"Why do you need to know?" Sokka asked. "What are you planning?"

"Nothing," Sokka answered, obviously lying. "Boy, you're so paranoid."

"It's in the middle of a volcano between here and the Fire Nation," Zuko answered. "You guys actually flew right past it on your way here."

"Thanks Zuko," Sokka said as he yawned and put a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Just knowing makes me feel better."

"Yeah, I'm sure it does," Zuko responded as Sokka walked away.

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Zuko however knew that something was up, so once everyone was asleep, he got up and sneaked to Appa, only to run into Warpath.

"What are you doing here!?" Zuko asked, surprised, but quiet so he doesn't wake the others.

"I was gonna ask the same for you," Warpath responded, glaring down at Zuko. "Thought you could just take Appa and report us to Starscream, didn't you?"

"What, no!" Zuko immediately answered.

"Then what are you doing here in the middle of the night, walking to Appa while everyone else is asleep?" Warpath asked.

"Because I think Sokka is going to do something crazy," Zuko answered, which got Warpath's attention.

"Define crazy," he responded.

"Last night, when he asked if I could speak with him, he wanted to know the prison that his father was kept in," Zuko answered. "I think he's trying to break him out by himself."

"Well why doesn't he just allow me to?" Warpath asked, still full of himself despite his mood. "I can handle a Fire Nation prison."

"It's not that simple Warpath," Zuko replied. "When Megatron was still alive, he appointed this Decepticon scientist named Shockwave to-"

"Shockwave!?" Warpath exclaimed. "What's that one eyed freak doing here?"

"He's been appointed the new warden of the Boiling Rock prison, and was allowed to experiment with the prisoners," Zuko answered.

"You can't just allow Sokka to do this on his own," Warpath responded. "Shockwave is one of the most feared Cybertronians who ever existed. It was even rumored that some of the Cons were even more terrified of him then Megatron!"

"I don't intend on allowing Sokka to do this on his own," Zuko said before getting up on Appa's saddle.

"Okay, fine, but I'm only allowing this because I don't want him getting tangled with the likes of Shockwave," Warpath hesitantly responded.

* * *

About 30 minutes later, Sokka sneaked up to Appa, his gear with him, when he accidentally woke the sky bison up.

"Shhh," was all Sokka said before Appa went back to sleep and he started climbing up, only to find Zuko on the saddle.

"Not up to anything, huh?" he asked before Sokka yelled in surprise and fell off Appa, landing square on his back, while Warpath came from behind.

"You told Warpath!?" Sokka asked.

"So he WAS telling the truth," Warpath said, obviously reffering to Zuko.

"Fine, you two caught me," Sokka admitted. "I'm gonna rescue my dad. You happy now?"

"Sokka, trust me, Shockwave is NOT someone you want to frag with," Warpath replied.

"Look, I HAVE to do this," Sokka responded. "The invasion plan was MY idea. It was MY decision to stay when things were going wrong. It's MY mistake, and it's MY job to fix it. I have to regain my honor, and neither of you can stop me." With that, Sokka started to re climb Appa.

"You need to regain your honor?" Zuko asked, hearing this story one too many times. "Believe me, I get it. I'm going with you."

"In that case, so am I," Warpath added.

"No guys, I have to do this alone," Sokka responded.

"And you plan on getting there on Appa?" Warpath asked. "Cause I'm not sure the Fire Nation would have sky bison day cares." Sokka, realizing he was right, stopped climbing Appa and jumped down.

"We'll take my war balloon," Zuko said.

* * *

The next morning, everyone awoke to see Momo sleeping with a note. Arcee walked up and picked it up so she could read it.

"What does it say?" Toph asked.

"The kids needed meat, gone fishing with Sokka and Zuko, back in a few days, Warpath," Arcee read. "PS, Aang, practice firebending while I'm gone. Do 20 sets of fire fists and ten hot squats everytime you hear a badger frog croak, Zuko." Aang was still asleep when he heard a badger frog croak much to his dismay.

"Nobody else has homework," Aang remarked as he got up and started doing hot squats. "One hot squat, two hot squat, three hot squat, four hot squat..."

* * *

While that was going on, Zuko, Sokka and Warpath were floating on Zuko's war balloon on a course for the Boiling Rock. Zuko was firebending into the fuel so the balloon would stay up while Sokka and Warpath just stood there. For quite some time, they hadn't spoken a word.

"Pretty clouds," Sokka finally said, breaking the scilence.

"Yeah, fluffy," Zuko responded.

"Yeah," Warpath said. Then there was nothing but silence again, until Sokka started whistling.

"What?" Zuko asked while turning to Sokka.

"What? Oh, I didn't say anything," Sokka responded, then tried to change the subject. "You know, a friend of mine actually designed these war balloons."

"No kidding," Zuko replied.

"Yep, a balloon, but for War," Sokka added.

"If there's one thing my dad's good at, it's war," Zuko coldly answered while continuing to fuel the balloon.

"Guess it runs in the family," Warpath bluntly said.

"Hey, hold on, not everyone in my family is like that," Zuko argued.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot that you've 'changed,'" Warpath responded.

"I meant my uncle," Zuko said with his head down. "He was more of a father, and I let him down." Warpath just looked at Zuko, still not trusting him, but was capable of seeing the sadness that ran through him.

"I think your uncle would be proud of you," Sokka empathetically responded. "Leaving your home to come help us, that's hard."

"It wasn't that hard," Zuko claimed.

"Really?" Sokka asked. "You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about?"

"Well, I did have a girlfriend: Mai," Zuko admitted.

"That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?" Sokka asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah," Zuko asked with a grin before turning serious. "Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it."

"I know how it feels to leave someone you cared about," Warpath admitted.

"Really?" Zuko asked, slightly surprised.

"I had a girlfriend back on Cybertron: Flareup," Warpath responded. "Boy, she's a feisty one. One time she blew up a bunk at Autobot Boot Camp. She told me I should have seen the look on Autosanrin's face." Zuko and Sokka couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"Then we met while taking down a Decepticon satellite dish, and it was love at first sight," Warpath added. "I don't know where she is now, but I doubt she made it here since she wasn't with the suicide attack on Kaon."

"My first girlfriend turned into the moon," Sokka said.

"That's rough buddy," Warpath responded.

* * *

Later that night, Sokka was fast asleep until Warpath came in and woke him up.

"Wake up Sokka," Warpath said, which immediately woke him up. "We're nearing the prison." Sokka then walked up to the front of the balloon to see a volcanic island with steam coming out of the center.

"There's plenty of steam to keep us covered," Zuko said. "As long as we're quiet, we should be able to navigate through it without being caught." Zuko then went up to the fuel tank and firebended the inside of it to allow them to enter through the steam. However, once they were in the steam, the burner started to loose power and the balloon starts to descend.

"We're going down!" Zuko exclaimed quietly as he rapidly firebended into the tank. "The balloon's not working anymore!" He then started firebending into the vent of the balloon in desperation.

"The air outside is just as hot as the air inside, so we can't fly!" Warpath exclaimed.

"So what are we suppose to do?" Zuko asked.

"I don't know, crash landing?" Sokka answered as he grabbed into the tank. The basket then started to descend to the boiling water, some of it splashing onto Sokka's hand, causing him to flail his hand and cover his mouth, struggling not to scream before the balloon crashed onto land, tossing Zuko, Sokka and Warpath off the basket as it shatters. The three of them then got up and observed the wreckage.

"How are we gonna get off this island if the balloon won't work?" Zuko asked.

"We could try using my jetpack," Warpath suggested before he noticed the fuel gage on his jetpack was empty. "Frag! I forgot to refuel it before we left!"

"Now what?" Zuko asked Sokka.

"We'll figure something out," Sokka said. "I suspected it might be a one way ticket."

"Wait, you knew this might happen?" Warpath asked.

"My dad might be here," Sokka replied as he walked to the broken basket of the war balloon. "I had to come and see."

"Uncle said I never thought things through, but this, ugh! This is just crazy!" Zuko exclaimed.

"Hey, I never wanted you to come along in the first place, and for the record, I always think things through!" Sokka argued. "But my plans haven't exactly worked, so this time I'm playing it by ear. So there. " He then tried to push the basket, only for it to scorch his hand and for him to withdraw. He then proceeded to kick it to the boiling lake.

"What are you doing?" Warpath asked.

"It doesn't work anyway, and we don't want anyone to find it," Sokka answered.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Zuko said as the three of them turned to face the giant prison. "There's no turning back now."

* * *

The next morning, the three of them broke into a locker room and took two guard uniforms. Sokka and Zuko changed into them while Warpath got back in his Decepticon disguise.

"I hope these disguises work," Zuko said.

"It worked while we were in the Fire Nation," Warpath replied. "Anyway, we need to lay low and find Hakoda as soon as possible." Just then, multiple guards and Vehicons ran through the corridor.

"Guards! There's a scuffle in the yard, come on!" one of the guards said before the three of them ran behind the last group to the courtyard of the Boiling Rock and saw multiple prisoners form a circle around a Vehicon and human prisoner who just stood there, glaring at the Vehicon.

"I didn't do anything!" the prisoner said. "I'm going back to my cell." He then turned to walk away when the Vehicon fired next to Chit Sang.

"Stop right there Chit Sang!" the Vehicon ordered.

"What did I do?" Chit Sang asked.

"You didn't bow to me when I walked by," the Vehicon answered.

"What!? That's not a prison rule!" Chit Sang responded.

"Do it!" the Vehicon ordered.

"Make me," Chit Sang responded. The Vehicon then fired his blaster at him, only for Chit Sang to dodge it and firebend back at the Vehicon.

"Tsk, tsk, firebending's prohibited here," the Vehicon mockingly said. "You're going in the cooler." Then a giant mechanical bat came in and transformed into the Decepticon Headmaster, 'Mindwipe.' Mindwpie then placed both of his hands together, almost as if he was praying, and started to chant something.

"ypeels yrev yreV, ypeels yrev yreV," he chanted before Chit Sang felt himself getting tired and went into unconsciousness, falling onto the ground.

"You two, assist me in taking this firebending scum into his cell," the Vehicon said to Warpath and Sokka.

"Meet back here in an hour," Sokka whispered to Zuko before he and Warpath hesitantly walked to the scene. Warpath assisted the Vehicon in picking Chit Sang up and dragging him away while Sokka walked behind them.

* * *

After Chit Sang had awakened, the Vehicon, Warpath and Sokka escorted him to a cooler.

"The warden will deal with you soon," the Vehicon said as he opened the door and pushed Chit Sang inside his cell before closing the door and locking it. "Can you believe this guy?"

"Fleshlings, am I right?" Warpath asked, trying to act more like a Decepticon.

"Ugh, tell me about it," the Vehicon replied.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the lounge of the Boiling Rock, three guards were eating their meals with their helmets off when they notice Zuko at the buffet table with his helmet still on.

"Hey new guy, I know it's the rule to have your helmet on at all times but this is the lounge. Relax," one of the male guards said.

"But what if there's an incident?" Zuko responded, obviously not wanting to take his helmet off, exposing who he was. "If I'm not prepared someone could strike me on the head." The guards simply responded by laughing in a slightly mocking manner.

"Give it a week, he'll loosen up," the one female guard of the three said to her fellow guards.

"Can the new guy ask you veterans a few questions about the prison?" Zuko asked as he sat down with them.

"No, you can't date the female guards," the female guard immediately responded.

"Trust me, you don't want to," the male guard remarked before the female guard threw a cup at his head. The guard behind him then started laughing.

"No, that's not it," Zuko replied. "he Boiling Rock, it holds the Fire Nation's most dangerous criminals right?" The guards simply responded by nodding once.

"So what about war prisoners?" he continued.

* * *

Back outside, Astrotrain landed onto the landing platform of the prison and opened his doors to reveal Shockwave slowly walking out of him. The guards immediately responded by kneeling to him, not wanting to get on the scientist's bad side.

* * *

Back with Warpath and Sokka, Sokka couldn't help but notice that in the cooler, it was absolutely freezing inside, and Chit Sang was shivering.

"It sure looks cold in there," Sokka stated.

"Well, that's why you firebenders call it the cooler," the Vehicon responded. "Any human that acts disorderly will be sent into one of them, so they won't be firebending any time soon." Then he heard rumbling footsteps and noticed Shockwave coming their way.

"It's the warden! Look alive!" the Vehicon said before the three of them stood at attention at the cooler's door. Sokka tried his best to hide the fear that was coursing through his body at the sight of Shockwave while Warpath opened the door to allow Shockwave to step inside.

"I here that you have attempted to escape Chit Sang," Shockwave stated in his cold calculating voice.

"I wasn't t-trying to escape," Chit Sang responded, which only causes Shockwave to smash the side of his cannon arm against him.

"Attempts to escape this prison are illogical," Shockwave began. "Even before the Decepticons arrived on this planet no one has ever escaped from here, and I intend to keep that record as it is. So know this Chit Sang. If I hear of one more act of disorder from you, then you will be sent to my lab." With that, Shockwave walked out of the cooler and closed the door.

* * *

Later, back outside, after being dismissed, Sokka and Warpath stood on a balcony over the courtyard, watching the prisoners when someone came up to them.

"Hey there...fellow guards, how goes it?" he asked in a familiar voice.

"Zuko?" Warpath asked.

"Shhh," Zuko replied before turning to Sokka. "Listen Sokka, I asked around the lounge. There are no Water Tribe prisoners. I'm afraid your father's not here."

"What?" Sokka asked, in shock with what he had just heard. "Are you sure? Did you double check?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Zuko replied with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"No...No!" Sokka exclaimed.

"I'm sorry buddy," Warpath said as he gently and carefully placed his hand on Sokka's shoulder.

"So we came all this way for nothing?" Sokka asked, still in disbelief. "I failed. Again."

"Ugh, what would Uncle say?" Zuko asked, trying to think of a way to help out when he looked up at the clouds. "Sometimes, clouds have two sides, a dark and light. And a silver lining in between. It's like a silver sandwich. So...when life seems hard...take a bite out of the silver sandwich." When he finished, he noticed that in the time it had taken him to think that up, Sokka's face had changed to a look of disbelief, but also of happiness and he had rushed to the railing.

"Maybe we haven't failed after all!" he stated.

"That's the spirit!" Zuko responded. "I can't believe that worked. I didn't even know what I was saying."

"No, what you said made no sense at all, but look!" Sokka responded before pointing to a specific prisoner. "It's Suki!" Sure enough, it was indeed the Kyoshi Warrior leader and girlfriend to Sokka, sitting on a rock.

"Prisoners! Back in your cells!" a Vehicon shouted as Suki and the other prisoners got up and started walking back into their cells.

* * *

Once the prisoners were back in their cells, Suki just lied on her bed, staring at the ceiling, when she heard the door open and saw Sokka walk in. Of course since he was disguised as a guard she assumed it was just another guard.

"What is it?" she asked as she got up. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You mean you don't recognize me?" Sokka asked.

"You people all look the same to me," Suki replied.

"Oh, then maybe you'll recognize this," Sokka replied in a smug manner before pursing her lips making smooching sounds. That of course caused Suki to grab his chin and push him to the door. It was then that Sokka's helmet fell off and Suki saw who he really was.

"Sokka!" she exclaimed happily as she ran to him and embraced him. "It's you!" Sokka responded by smiling and returning the hug.

"The other Kyoshi Warriors, are they here?" Sokka asked as he stood back up.

"No," Suki sadly replied as she looked concerned for her fellow warriors. "I don't know where they are. They locked me here because I'm the leader."

"Well you won't be here for long," Sokka responded as he placed a hand on Suki's cheek. "I'm busting you out."

"I'm so glad to see you Sokka," Suki said as she placed her hand on Sokka's hand. "I knew you'd come." With that, the two lovers looked into each other's eyes and leaned in for a kiss.

Back outside the cell, Zuko stood beside the door, keeping an eye for anyone that might need to go inside, when he spoted the female guard from the lounge coming his way. Zuko then knocked on Suki's cell door to warn them.

Inside the cell, the two lovers broke their kiss when they heard the knocking noise.

"'Scuse me, I need to get into that cell," the guard said to Zuko.

"No, you can't go in there," Zuko immediately replied before looking through the opening to the cell door, trying to think of an excuse. "The lights are out...the prisoner could sneek up on you."

"Step aside fool," the guard responded before trying to get inside, only for Zuko to grab her arm and throw her against the wall. "Hey, hey! What are you doing!?" As the struggle continued, Sokka easily opens the door and sneaks away without anyone noticing.

Meanwhile, Mindwipe was walking down the hallway, minding his own business and drinking liquified energon when he heard a noise and saw the struggle between Zuko and the female guard.

"Vhat the..." he said as the guard noticed him.

"Mindwipe! Don't just stand there, help me arrest him!" the guard shouted. "Argh! I think he's an imposter!"

"Vhut of course," Mindwipe responded as he placed his hands together and started chanting. "ypeels yrev yreV, ypeels yrev yreV-" Soon, Zuko felt himself getting tired and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"I'd say zat did ze tri- Uh-Oh," Mindwipe started before he noticed that the guard was knocked out as well. He then tiptoed sineltly up to the scene and dragged Zuko away, not wanting to hear what the guard had to say about this. Then a Vehicon noticed the sleeping guard.

"GET UP!" he shouted, which easily awakened the guard as she thrashed around in surprise at the loud noise.

* * *

Once the firebenders and Decepticons figured out that the imposter was actually Zuko, he was immediately placed in an interrogation room where he waited for Shockwave to come in. After a few minutes, said robotic cyclops walked through the door, his single red eye gazing down at Zuko with no emotion whatsoever.

"I must admit, I never expected for this to be the most logical place to find you Prince Zuko," he stated. "Though there is one thing I still have yet to know. Why are you here?"

"I won't talk, not even to you," Zuko responded dryly.

"I assure you, once you find out what I have been working on here, you will," Shockwave coldly responded. "Escort him to my lab." Two Vehicons then came in and handcuffed Zuko before escorting him out of the room. Zuko did nothing except wonder what horrific experiments his father allowed Shockwave to conduct here.

* * *

Once they had entered the lab, Zuko was shocked and horrified by what he saw. Blood stains all across the floor from previous test subjects, prisoners in test tubes with cybernetic parts attatched to them, and one prisoner who appeared to have glowing orange cracks all over his body and was thrashing around in pain. Shockwave then directed Zuko's attention to said test subject.

"I call this, Project Extremis," he explained. "I have successfully conducted a steroid that allows firebenders to achive firebending power equal to half of that of Sozin's Comet. The only problem I have with it so far, is that it is unstable as you can clearly see. All of my subjects have spontaneously combusted after merely a few minutes." Right on que, the prisoner was set ablaze, and after ten seconds, there was nothing left except ashes. Zuko could only watch as a look of horror emerged from his face. Then, two Vehicons brought another prisoner in and set him on the same table that the other man died on.

"I will give you some time to think about this Zuko," Shockwave began. "Tell me your purpose of being here, or you will become my next test subject." With that, Shockwave motioned for the Vehicons to drag Zuko away from his lab, passing a large cryogenic tube that read 'Inmate Zero.' All that could be seen inside was a glowing red visor.

"This will only hurt for a second," Shockwave told the prisoner as he injected a syringe filled with the steroid. "What comes next, more so."

As the doors closed in front of Zuko, all he could hear was the screaming of the unfortunate test subject.

* * *

Soon afterward, some of the prisoners, including Zuko and Suki, were mopping the floors when Sokka and Warpath walked to them. Upon seeing Warpath, Suki got in a defensive stance, but Sokka immediately stepped in the way.

"It's okay! He's with me!" Sokka explained.

"Oh," Suki responded while she went back to mopping. "Sorry."

"Not the first time it's happened," Warpath replied. "Name's Warpath by the way. I see you and Zuko have met."

"A-actually, we met a long time ago," Suki corrected.

"We did?" Zuko asked, not sure of what she was talking about.

"Yeah, you kind have burned down my village," Suki responded while shooting a glare at Zuko.

"Oh," Zuko said, suddenly remembering when he burned down a village in Kyoshi Island while he was searching for Aang. "Sorry about that. Nice to meet you again." Then the four of them moved against a wall so no one could see them.

"Okay, Sokka and I think we've come up with an escape plan," Warpath started. "We checked the coolers again, and the point of them is to keep firebenders contained, right?"

"Yeah," Zuko answered.

"So, they're completely insulated and sealed to keep the cold in," Sokka explained. "Well to keep the cold in it also has to keep the heat out, right?"

"Just get to the point guys," Suki responded.

"We can use the cooler as a boat to get across the boiling water," Warpath explained.

"The cooler as a boat?" Zuko asked, slightly sceptical. "Are you sure?"

"I'm telling you, it'll work," Sokka replied. "I walked around the perimeter. There's a blind spot between two guard towers. It's the perfect launching point. I already tested it out. We'll roll the cooler into the water and just float with the current. As long as we don't make a sound, no one will notice."

"And bing bang boom, we're home free," Warpath finished.

"But how are you going to get the cooler out?" Suki asked.

"Yeah, how are you going to get the cooler out," said Chit Sang, who was listening in this whole time.

"What?" Sokka asked, starting to panic. "We didn't...We... We didn't say that."

"Yeah, you heard wrong," Warpath added.

"I heard you hatching an escape plan, and I want in," Chit Sang demanded.

"There's nothing to get in on," Zuko said.

"Yeah, the only thing we're hatching is... an egg?" Sokka added, trying to hide the truth. Warpath, Suki and Zuko could just sigh at his poor attempt.

"Okay, well, I come with you, or Shockwave hears about this egg too," Chit Sang demanded.

"I guess we have no choice," Suki said, accepting defeat.

"Okay, you're in," Sokka said to Chit Sang before he hands a wrench over to Zuko. "Now, first we need someone to unbolt the cooler. From the inside."

"Oh, I can get you inside," Chit Sang replied.

Afterward, Chit Sang walked up to an open area when Zuko 'accidently' bumpped into him while he was mopping.

"Ugh! Hey, what are you, stupid!?" Chit Sang asked as he grabbed onto Zuko's shoulders before Zuko did the same. "Watch where you're going!" Chit Sang then lifted Zuko off the ground and tossed him into an open area.

"Hey, you watch who you're shoving!" Zuko retaliated as he pushed Chit Sang.

"I think you mean WHOM I'm shoving!" Chit Sang replied before they started a pretend struggle while the other prisoners watched and began to cheer.

"I need backup over here!" Sokka said to the other guards. Chit Sang then tried to body slam Zuko when he somersaulted out of the way and then firebended toward Chit Sang.

"No firebending!" one of the guards said as he stepped forward. "Into the cooler!" Mindwipe then came in and used his chanting to knock Zuko out before two Vehicons walked in and dragged Zuko away.

* * *

After a while, Sokka walked up to the cooler Zuko was placed in and opened the door.

"I can take you back to your cell, IF you've learned your lesson," Sokka joked in a serious manner while Zuko lifted up his head and sighed a breath of fire.

"Yes, I have. Completely," Zuko replied as he showed Sokka the bolts and nuts he unbolted.

"I got Suki and Chit Sang out of their cells a few minutes ago," Sokka stated as he lifted up his visor. "They'll be waiting for us with Warpath at the shore."

"Someone's coming!" Zuko suddenly said as he pulled Sokka into the cooler and sides the door closed, listening to a guard and a Vehicon exchange small talk.

"Yeah, new arrivals coming in at dawn," the Vehicon said to the guard.

"Anybody interesting?" the guard asked.

"Nah, just the usual," the Vehicon replied. "Couple of traitors, some war prisoners, some Autobots, though I did hear there might be a pirate."

"No foolin'?" the guard asked. Sokka's attention however was grabbed when they mentioned war prisoners and Autobots.

"War prisoners, and Autobots," Zuko said. "It could be your father and some of the others."

"I know," Sokka replied as he looked away.

"Well, what should we do?" Zuko asked. "Are we going ahead with the plan or are we waiting another night?"

"I don't know," Sokka replied with tears in his eyes. "Is it right for me to risk Suki's freedom? All of our freedom on the slim chance that my dad is gonna show up?"

"It's your call Sokka," Zuko responded as Sokka was struggling to make a decision.

* * *

Later that night, Sokka, Zuko, Suki and Chit Sang were waiting outside when Warpath came down the cliff, pushing the cooler down to them.

"Took you long enough," Chit Sang complained as he motioned to a girl waving to him and a guy near the shore. "This here's my girl and my best buddy. They're coming too."

"Fine, just get in the cooler, everyone," Warpath responded as he moved the cooler into the lake while Sokka lifted up a rock revealing his Water Tribe clothing.

"You sure you wanna go Sokka?" Warpath asked.

"You're the one who said you wanted to redeem yourself," Zuko added. "Redeem your honor Rescuing your dad is your chance."

"Your dad?" Suki asked, who wasn't aware of why they originally came here.

"If I had just cut my losses at the invasion, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess," Sokka answered in a sad tone. "Maybe sometimes it's just better to call it quits before you fail."

"No, it's not," Zuko responded. "Look Sokka, you're going to fail a lot before things work out."

"That's suppose to make me fell better?" Sokka asked.

"Even though you'll probably fail over and over and over again," Zuko continued.

"Seriously, not helping," Sokka interupted.

"You have to try every time," Zuko finished as he grabbed Sokka's shoulder. "You can't quit because you're afraid you might fail."

"Hey, if you two are done cuddling, can we move on?" Chit Sang impatiently asked.

"...No, I'm staying," Sokka answered after thinking about what Zuko said before placing a hand on Suki's shoulder. "You guys go. You've been here long enough."

"I'm not leaving without you Sokka," Suki reassuringly replied.

"I'm staying too," Zuko said.

"So am I," Warpath added.

"Not me, I'm out," Chit Sang said as his girlfriend and his friend jumped into the cooler. "Let's roll baby." He then pushed the cooler into the lake and jumped into it.

"We gave up our only chance of escaping," Sokka said as he watched the cooler drift through the boiling lake. "I hope we haven't just made a huge mistake."

* * *

Later, at the crack of dawn, Chit Sang and his crew were about halfway across the lake, and it was clear that they were smoldering due to the lake's hot temperature, even though the cooler kept cool the whole time.

"Argh, this current is so slow," Chit Sang complained before he tore off a small section of the outside of the cooler. "I can use this to paddle." Big mistake. As he placed the metal piece in the lake, it immediately smeared and burned Chit Sang's hand. He immediately let go of the piece and struggled not to scream, but the pain was too much.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!**" he screamed, and even worse, the whole prison could hear it. One of the Vehicons  
noticed it and sounded the alarm.

Meanwhile, Sokka, Zuko, Suki and warpath, still outside, were pressing against the wall, trying not to be spotted.

"The plan failed!" Sokka silently exclaimed. "They're caught!"

On the prison's wall, Shockwave immediately walked outside and observed the scene.

"I count three prisoners Warden Shockwave," a Vehicon reported. "One of them appears to be Chit Sang. Shall I have the lab on standby?" Shockwave for a while stood there, thinking of the most logical way to handle this.

"Have it ready for the two other prisoners, but have the interrogation room ready for Chit Sang," Shockwave coldly responded. "In the meantime, have a team of Vehicons bring the cooler back here, then lockdown the prison. We have new prisoners arriving, so everything must be completely secure." With that, Shockwave walked back inside as four Vehicons transformed into Cybertronian helicopters and flew in to the cooler, much to the dismay of Chit Sang and the others. They then detached magnets from the bottom of their helicopter modes and attached them to the cooler before pulling it up and flying back to the prison.

Meanwhile, Sokka and the others watched for the new prisoners to arrive.

"There's Astrotrain!" Warpath stated as the triple-changer, in his space shuttle mode, flew to the platform and opened his doors.

"This is it," Sokka stated. "If my dad or any of the Bots aren't not there, we risked everything for nothing."

"We had to," Suki reassuringly replied.

"Come on, come on," Sokka anxiously said as a prisoner stepped off of Astrotrain.

"Is that him?" Zuko asked.

"My dad doesn't have a nose ring," Sokka answered in a slightly agitated manner. Then more and more prisoners walked out of Astrotrain, and two of them in particular caught Warpath and Sokka's eyes.

"Bumblebee and Ironhide!" they silently exclaimed.

"You know them?" Suki asked.

"They were with us since the beginning," Sokka responded. Then more prisoners walked out, but much to Sokka's dismay, none of them were Hakoda.

"That's it?" Sokka asked in shock. "That can't be it!"

"I'm sorry buddy," Warpath sympathetically responded.

"At least we found Bee and Hide..." Sokka said, trying to think of the positives, but trying to hold back tears, when he heard a guard shout to someone.

"Hey you, get off Astrotrain!" he ordered as they looked back up at Astrotrain, and Sokka's expression turned from one of sadness, to one of joy when out came his father, Hakoda.

"Dad..." was all he could say as his eyes widdened.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*

* * *

**YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED THAT A LOT OF MY EFFORT WENT TO SHOCKWAVE'S SCENES. WELL, SHOCKWAVE IS MY FAVORITE TRANSFORMER SO THAT MIGHT HAPPEN ON OCCASION. ALSO, ANY GUESS AS TO WHO THIS MYSTERIOUS 'INMATE ZERO' IS? I WON'T SAY ANYTHING YET, BUT I'M CURIOUS TO HEAR WHO YOU THINK IT IS.**


	23. The Boiling Rock part 2

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon.**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 23: The Boiling Rock part 2

* * *

Once all the prisoners were out of Astrotrain and the situation involving Chit Sang was taken care of, Shockwave walked up to them with two Vehicons behind him.

"Line them up for the warden!" one of the guards ordered as all of the prisoners, including Hakoda, Bumblebee and Ironhide walked into a straight line in front of Shockwave while multiple guards surrounded the prisoners. Meanwhile, Sokka rushed up to get a better look and to confirm that his father was there. He felt relieved when he found that his assumptions were correct.

"Dad..." he said to himself as he rushed from the stairs and nudged aside some of the guards. "Excuse me, coming through. The Warden wants me over there, sorry." Once he was close enough, Shockwave walked toward the prisoners.

"Welcome to the Boiling Rock," he said. "I am confident that you have heard horrible rumors of this facility. I assure you, they do not have to be true, so long as you obey me." He then noticed that Hakoda was not looking at him.

"Look at the warden when he is talking!" one of the Vehicons ordered.

"No," was all Hakoda said before the Vehicon walked to him, but then Shockwave motioned him to stop.

"Do nothing," he ordered. "The flesh creature wants to look at my feet, so take a look." He then grabbed Hakoda and forced his head to the floor. Sokka could only look at the scene and gasp in shock.

"I know exactly who you are, Hakoda of the Water Tribe," Shockwave coldly stated to Hakoda, who was still on the ground. "Quite strong willed for a human. Not to worry, I will take care of that in time." With that, he then started walking back to where he was, only for Ironhide to tilt his foot to the side, causing Shockwave to trip and fall to the ground. Sokka snickered at the sight while two Vehicons went to Shockwave's aid, only for him to shove them aside as Shockwave got up himself.

"Get these prisoners out of my sight," Shockwave ordered as he walked back inside the prison while the guards forced the prisoners inside.

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

After being placed in his cell, Hakoda just sat down on the mattress, when suddenly the door opened and Sokka walked inside. Again though, like Suki, he assumed that he was just another guard.

"Thank goodness you're okay," Sokka said before Hakoda suddenly jumped out of his mattress and got into an attack position.

"If you take one step closer you'll see just how 'okay' I am," he threatened.

"Dad, it's me," Sokka said as he lifted the visor. Hakoda, now knowing it was his son, lowered his arms and teared up, smiling to him.

"Sokka, my son," he said as he ran to hug Sokka.

"You know Sokka, you should be more careful with that guard outfit on," Hakoda warned to his son. "I almost punched you in the gut."

"Yeah, I ran into that problem earlier," Sokka responded as he rubbed his neck.

* * *

Meanwhile, Bumblebee and Ironhide were placed in a cell specifically built for Autobot prisoners when the door opened and Warpath walked inside. Fortunately, Warpath was much easier to identify due to the giant cannon on his chest.

"W-warpath!?" Ironhide exclaimed silently.

"(What are you doing here?)" Bumblebee beeped.

"Long story short, Sokka's here to try and see if his dad was here and spring him out. I came with," Warpath answered.

* * *

"So where's Bato?" Sokka asked his father back in their cell. "Where's everyone else from the invasion?"

"The others are being held at a prison near the Fire Nation palace," Hakoda answered. "They singled me out as their leader and sent me here. The other Autobots should be there too, except Optimus. I don't know where he is, but they said he's still out there. But before I left I met some young women who said they knew you. The Yoshinama Fighters?"

"You mean the Kyoshi Warriors?" Sokka asked.

"That's right," Hakoda answered.

"Their leader Suki is here and she's gonna escape with us," Sokka responded.

"Good, we'll need all the help we can get," Hakoda replied as he laied a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Also, Warpath is here too," Sokka added. "He's over at Bumblebee and Ironhide's cell. Oh, and you know Prince Zuko?"

* * *

"The Fire Lord's son?" Ironhide asked as Warpath explained to them what was going on.

"Yeah, he's with us too," Warpath answered.

"(Wait, he's WITH you?)" Bumblebee asked, not believing what Warpath just said.

"Yeah, I know, I could hardly believe it too," Warpath responded. "After all the kids told me about him, I didn't trust him one bit, but tell you guys the truth, he's actually proven himself and we never would have found you guys without him."

"So do you guys have an escape plan?" Ironhide asked.

"Well, we HAD one, but some of the other inmates came in and fragged everything," Warpath responded, secretly cursing Chit Sang under his breath. "I don't know if there's another way out of this island."

"Come on buddy, no prison can hold three Autobots," Ironhide replied as he placed a hand on Warpath's shoulder.

* * *

While that was going on, Chit Sang was immediately placed into the interrogation room, strapped to a metal chair, when the door opened and Shockwave slowly walked inside.

"Comfortable Chit Sang?" Shockwave asked.

"If you're trying to get me to talk, forget it, I'm not a squealer," Chit Sang immediately replied as Shockwave walked around him.

"I have not made any attempt to make you talk Chit Sang," Shockwave corrected. "I merely asked if you were comfortable."

"Well...yeah," Chit Sang admitted as he smiled. "Actually I am pretty comfortable." That of course didn't last as Shockwave proceeded to kick the back of the chair, causing it to fall and for Chit Sang's head to slam against the floor.

"Still comfortable?" Shockwave asked as Chit Sang groaned in pain.

"No..." Chit Sang weakly responded.

"And as for your previous statement, I have many ways to make you 'squeal,'" Shockwave added, which caused a chill to run up Chit Sang's spine as the door closed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Warpath, after making sure no one was following him, walked up to Zuko's cell door and whispered into the opening.

"Zuko, you in there?" Warpath asked.

"I'm here," Zuko replied from inside the cell.

"I got done talking with the Autobots and Sokka got done talking to his dad," Warpath stated. "We all came up with an escape plan together, but I needed to confirm one last thing."

"I'm all ears," Zuko replied when Warpath siddenly heard two Vehicons walk up to him.

"You there," one of them said which immediately got Warpath's attention. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I was just telling this fleshling what I thought of him and the rest of his kind!" Warpath answered, shouting the last few words at the door.

"Frankly I wouldn't mind if you continued, but we need him," the other Vehicon responded. "We have orders straight from Shockwave."

"Well can't I just have thirty seconds to rough him up?" Warpath asked. The response he got was for both Vehicons to chuckle in amusement.

"I like this kid," the second Vehicon said to his companion. "Alright, thirty seconds." Once he heard that, Warpath immediately entered Zuko's cell.

"Take that! And this!" Warpath shouted from inside the cell.

Inside the cell, Warpath kept punching the wall to stimulate a fight going on while Zuko pretended to grunt in pain with each of Warpath's punches.

"Suki told me you told her of this 'Inmate Zero' kept in Shockwave's lab," Warpath whispered with each punch.

"Yeah, what of it?" Zuko asked.

"What do you think it is?" Warpath asked.

"I'm not sure," Zuko answered. "Whoever it was appeared to be forzen so I couldn't get a good look. All I know is that he's big and has red eyes."

"Sounds like a really tough Autobot the Cons caught, perfect," Warpath responded.

"Why's that?" Zuko asked.

"The plan's gonna need a BIG distraction," Warpath answered when the Vehicons suddenly opened the door. Once he saw them, Warpath suddenly tackled Sokka to the ground, making sure he didn't hurt him, before the Vehicons forced him off him.

"Yeesh kid, don't you think that's enough?" the first Vehicon asked as the other one grabbed Zuko and dragged him away.

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked. "Where are you taking me!?"

* * *

Zuko was then dragged to the interrigation room before beeing tossed into the chair in the center. The Vehicons then shut the door.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Zuko exclaimed. Suddenly, he heard the one voice that he had hopped he didn't have to hear.

"Come on Zuko, we all know that's a lie," Mai said as she walked out of the shadows, glaring at Zuko.

"Mai..." Zuko said as his eyes widdened in shock.

* * *

Back with Chit Sang, after enduring an hour of torture, he was bruised and cut to where he was barely containing the truth from Shockwave. Said Decepticon then motioned to a Vehicon to give him a needle filled with a glowing orange liquid.

"Wh-what is that?" Chit Sang asked as Shockwave grabbed the needle and flicked the tip of it, walking to Chit Sang.

"This is a finalized version of the Extremis steriod," Shockwave answered as he forced Chit Sang's arm down. "I have finally conducted a formula that will not cause the test subject to turn to ashes. However, the painful beginning process could not be reversed, and you have seen what happened when I injected the drug into my test subjects." Chit Sang's eyes then widened in horror as the needle inched closer to his arm.

"I'm giving you one last chance Chit Sang, tell me who conducted that little escape plan, or suffer the consequences," Shockwave warned.

"O-okay! Okay!" Chit Sang replied. "There was someone else that was with me on the plan. It's a Con, disguised as a Con, only he's not a Con. He's the mastermind. he came up with the plan."

"Thank you for your cooperation," Shockwave coldly said as he grabbed Chit Sang and dragged him out of the room.

* * *

Back with Zuko, Mai just looked down at Zuko, still glaring at him while Zuko hung his head in shame, still sitting down on the chair.

"How did you know I was here?" Zuko asked.

"Because I though I knew you so well," Mai harshly answered before unscrolling a letter in front of Zuko. "But the truth is, I guess I don't know you at all. All I get is a letter? You could have at least looked me in the eye when you ripped out my heart."

"I didn't mean to-" Zuko started, trying to explain what was going on, but Mai immediately interupted him.

"You didn't mean to?" Mai harshly asked before walking behind Zuko, reading his letter. "'Dear Mai, I'm sorry that you have to find out this way, but I'm leaving.'"

"STOP!" Zuko shouted, which immediately caused Mai to stop. "This isn't about you, this is about the Fire Nation!"

"Thanks Zuko, that makes me feel all better," Mai sarcastically yet angerly responded before tossing the letter at Zuko's head.

"Mai, I never wanted to hurt you," Zuko said as he stood up to face her. "But I have to do this to save my country."

"Save it?" Mai asked. "You're betraying your country."

"Look at what happened to the Fire Nation when these giant freaks showed up!" Zuko said. "I thought my father alone was tainting my country's honor, but since Megatron arrived, the Decepticons have made things worse than ever! You said it yourself before I left. You didn't trust them either." Mai could only just look to the side, sulkily, but knowing that she did say those words.

* * *

Meanwhile, Suki was readying herself for the plan, practicing her fighting moves, when Warpath walked into the door.

"Warpath, what's going on?" Suki asked.

"We don't have much time," Warpath said as he kneeled down to Suki's level. "We're escaping today."

"How?" Suki asked.

"I noticed that there was a gondola that goes to and from the prison," Warpath explained. "They must use that when anyone arrives using a zeppelin. We'll use that to escape."

"What?" Suki asked, slightly confused.

"Sokka, Hakoda, the other Bots and I came up with a plan together," Warpath explained. "We're gonna commandeer the gondola and use that to escape."

"We'll never make it onto the gondola," Suki responded. "There's too many guards."

"Hakoda thought about that," Warpath explained further. "He said we'll need a distraction. That's why Sokka and I are gonna go into Shockwave's lab and free this 'Inmate Zero,' and hopefully convince him to go on a rampage."

"Okay, let's say by some miracle this all works and we make it on the gondola. Shockwave will just cut the lines," Suki replied, still sceptical.

"Shockwave will likely be too busy trying to contain Inmate Zero," Warpath explained. "Besides, Bee's a great shot, so he'll shoot anyone who comes close to the lines." Suki then nodded once, accepting the plan before Warpath sneaked out of Suki's cell, only for two Vehicons to spot him.

"Hey, you!" one of them shouted, which caused Warpath to freeze immediately. "The warden wants to see you."

"Oh, uh, maybe I could schedule another time with him?" Warpath asked. "Maybe tomorrow? Okay, thanks guys." He then tried to run off before the Vehicons grabbed him and dragged him away.

* * *

Outside, Shockwave observed a line of Vehicons standing in front of the him, ones that clearly turned into different forms, when Warpath was forced into the scene and beside the guard farthest to Shockwave's right.

"One of you is an imposter who underestimated me," Shockwave stated as Chit Sang walked beside him.

'Frag, frag, frag, frag, frag!' Warpath thought, thinking his cover was blown.

"Said imposter will now know that their futile attempts are illogical," Shockwave continued before turning to Chit Sang. "Who is it?" Chit Sang then pointed to, thankfully, one of the Vehicons. The same Vehicon that gave him a hard time in the courtyard.

"What!?" the Vehicon exclaimed as he grabbed Chit Sang by the shirt before he was dragged away while Chit Sang raised his hands nonchalantly. "Shockwave, he's lying! You gotta believe me!"

"Send him to the interrogation room," Shockwave ordered as he walked inside while Warpath breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

Once in the interrogation room, Shockwave simply paced in front the Vehicon, strapped to the chair and surrounded by guards, while he kept begging for Shockwave to believe him.

"I'm telling you, it wasn't me!" the Vehicon exclaimed.

"Everything points to you Number 24601," Shockwave explained coldly. "You threw Chit Sang in the very cooler they used to escape. Clever, but highly illogical."

"What!? That was a coincidence!" Number 24601 exclaimed before a guard walked to Shockwave.

"Shockwave, there's someone to see you," he said before Shockwave turned to face him.

"Who gave you orders to interrupt my interrigation?" Shockwave coldly asked, before every human guard bowed to who was at the door: Princess Azula, with Ty-Lee beside her.

"I did," Azula coldly stated.

"Ah, Princess Azula," Shockwave said as Azula and Ty-Lee walked into the room. "It is an honor to to welcome you to the Fire Nation's most exemplary prison. I did not expect your arrival."

"Who is this?" Azula asked, obviously reffering to Number 24601.

"A Vehicon who was involved in a reacent feeble escape attempt," Shockwave answered.

"It wasn't me!" Number 24601 exclaimed as Azula observed him.

"You're wasting your time," Azula stated before she headed for the door. "He's innocent."

"How do you know?" Shockwave asked.

"Because I'm what we call a 'people person,'" Azula said as she walked out of the room.

* * *

After being dismissed, Warpath walked up to the door to Shockwave's lab where Sokka was waiting.

"Where have you been?" Sokka asked.

"Long story," Warpath responded before he opened the doors to the lab. Sokka tried his best not to scream when he saw the horrific sight that is Shockwave's lab as he walked to the cryogenically frozen Inmate Zero.

"Let's hope this works," Sokka said as Warpath flipped the switch and the ice surrounding the inmate started to slowly melt, and Warpath's optics slowly widen in horror as who Inmate Zero truly was was reveiled before him.

"Sokka, we better run," Warpath said.

"But what about negotiating him to-" Sokka began before Warpath interrupted him.

"Trust me, we don't need to actually tell him to go on a rampage," Warpath said. "Now let's, **ZOOM!** get the slag outta here!" With that, the duo ran out of the room and the doors closed behind them. A few seconds later, the door was bashed off and a large Cybertronian started walking through the steam. Slowly, it was revealed that Inmate Zero was the Dinobot leader know as 'Grimlock,' and he was seathing with rage.

"Shock...wave..." he growled as he started running down the hallway with his fire sword in hand.

* * *

"WARNING, INMATE ZERO HAS ESCAPED!" the intercom blasted. "SUBJECT IS PRONE TO VIOLENT OUTBURSTS! PROCEED WITH CAUTION!"

* * *

Once Shockwave received the news, he was not pleased. Though his face did not show so, his movements clearly indicated as such. Azula and Ty-Lee, who were walking beside him, immediately noticed when he crarged his cannon arm and started walking away.

"Where are you going?" Ty-Lee asked.

"I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago," Shockwave coldly responded.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mai and Zuko could feel rumbling as a guard ran to Mai.

"Ma'am, Inmate Zero has escaped," he stated. "I'm here to protect you."

"I don't need any protection," Mai responded.

"Hah, believe me, she doesn't," Zuko remarked.

"I'm sorry, but I-," the guard started before Zuko immediately firebended the guards feet and rushed out of the room. The guard attempted to shield Mai.

"Get off of me!" Mai ordered as she shoved the guard aside before she noticed that Zuko had shut and locked the door, locking her inside. Zuko took the time to gaze into Mai's tear filled eyes before he ran off.

* * *

Meanwhile, after meeting up with Sokka and Warpath, Zuko helped them get Hakoda, Suki, Ironhide and Bumblebee out of their cells before they started running to the gondola.

* * *

While that was going on, Grimlock was going ballistic, slashing and smashing Vehicons left and right, when he noticed footsteps from behind him. He turned to see Shockwave, advancing to him with his cannon charged.

"I should have terminated you when I had the chance you insignificant beast," Shockwave growled as Grimlock grabbed his sword.

"Time to die Shockwave!" Grimlock yelled as he charged at the scientist. Shockwave immediately fired a charged blast from his cannon, but the Dinobot was quick to react as ge grabbed his shield and blocked the projectile before bashing Shockwave's head with it, which did push him back a few steps. Shockwave then used his cannon arm to try and bash Grimlock back, but Grimlock immediately grabbed the cannon and punched Shockwave in his metal gut repeatedly before lifting him up by his cannon arm and tossing him to the wall. Grimlock then got his sword and charged again, but Shockwave was quick to act as he kicked Grimlock in the face, then grabbed his head and bashed it against the wall. Grimlock was on the ground when Shockwave pointed his cannon arm at him.

"Had enough?" he asked coldly.

"You...wish..." Grimlock growled as he got up and punched Shockwave in the face.

* * *

Back with the group, they were closer and closer to the gondola, not encountering any resistance since they were busy trying to take out Grimlock.

"We're almost there," Suki stated as they made it to the gondola, not knowing that a lone Vehicon in a guard tower spotted them and activated his comlink.

"Sir, there's a group of prisoners at the gondola," he reported. "I believe they may be trying to escape."

* * *

Shockwave meanwhile was tossed to a wall by Grimlock when he recieved the report.

"Repeat transmission," he weakly said.

"A group of prisoners may be trying to escape using the gondola," the Vehicon repeated. Shockwave then immediately got up, hiding his rage, before noticing Grimlock charging at him. He then fired a charged blast from his cannon to blast Grimlock into a wall before he was buried in rubble. Vehicons then surrounded the scene before Shockwave ran off. A few seconds later, the pile or rubble exploded and revealed Grimlock, now in his Cybertronian T-Rex form, roaring and blasting fire  
from his mouth, incinerating all in its path.

"**SHOCKWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE!**" he roared in anger as he charged off, still in his T-Rex form.

* * *

Shockwave meanwhile lifted up a panel from his cannon arm as he ran through the hallways and pressed a few buttons.

* * *

Back in Shockwave's lab, six test tubes opened to reveal six firebender prisoners with cracks all over their bodies which were glowing a hellish orange, as well as with large computer-chip like objects that controlled their minds. They then awakened from their slumber and ran off to their objective.

* * *

Meanwhile, with the group, Suki opened the gondola door and motioned for everyone to get inside.

"Everyone in," she said as she boarded the gondola. Then Sokka, Zuko, Hakoda, Ironhide and Bumblebee ran inside while Warpath pulled the lever down, allowing the gondola to advance to the other side. Warpath then kicked the lever off, making it impossible for the gondola to stop before he jumped up to the gondola and grabbed on to the roof. Ironhide then came up and helped him up.

"What are you doing?" Sokka asked.

"I'm making it so they can't stop us," Warpath answered.

"Way to think ahead," Sokka replied.

"We're on our way," Suki said, but then something on the platform caught Hakoda's eye.

"Wait, who are they?" he asked. Everyone then rushed up and much to their horror, it was Azula, Ty-Lee and Shockwave, with six Extremis prisoners surrounding Azula.

"That's a problem," Zuko responded. "It looks like Shockwave perfected his Extremis steroid. And to make matters worse, that's my sister and her friend with them." Azula then motioned to Shockwave, who pressed a few buttons, commanding the Extremis soldiers to start firebending with their hands to the ground, and their enhanced firebending propelled them to the top of the gondola. Then, Azula got out a pair of handcuffs and used the same technique to propel herself to the wires, locking the handcuff to the wire before she firebended off one hand while holding onto the cuff with another, sliding her across the wire while Ty-Lee jumped to the wires and started running across them.

"This is a rematch I've been waiting for," Suki stated.

"Me too," Zuko added before the group, minus Hakoda and Bumblebee, went up to the roof where the soldiers surrounded them as Azula and Ty-Lee jumped to the roof, Azula facing Zuko while Ty-Lee faced Suki. Everyone got in an attack position, staring each other down before Azula made the first move, firebending with her feet towards Zuko. Zuko immediately blocked the firebending before an Extremis soldier firebended to Sokka, who immediately dodged the flame and got his energon sword out, easily cutting the soldier's arm off, but the soldier appeared unphased, with a wicked smirk on his face, much to Sokka's shock, as the soldier punched his face, sending him back a few steps and leaving a burn mark on his face. The soldier was about to attack again when suddenly...

"**KABLAM!**" Warpath shouted as his chest cannon blasted the soldier to ashes.

"Thanks Warpath!" Sokka said as he went to assist Zuko.

"Don't mention it buddy!" Warpath replied as he moved on to a second soldier. Meanwhile, Suki charged at Ty-Lee and tried to punch her, but Ty-Lee was quick to act, for she blocked the attack and attempted to use her chi-blocking to get the drop on her. Fortunately, Suki was able to block the attack as she continued to try and punch her while Ty-Lee kept trying to chi-block Suki. Then Ty-Lee suddenly flipped away and went through the inside of the gondola and to the other side of the roof, behind Suki. She attempted to chi-bock her, but Suki was quick to dodge it and their fight continued.

Meanwhile, two Extremis soldiers advanced towards Ironhide, who got his liquid nitrogen hose ready and sprayed them down with with it, immediately freezing them. Ironhide then smirked to himself before another soldier fired a blast at it, damaging it much to Ironhide's surprise. The soldier was about to finish him off before Suki noticed and punched Ty-Lee aside and kicked the soldier off the gondola and into the boiling lake, which killed him instantly. Ironhide then gave Suki a smirk before he moved on to the next soldier.

Back with Zuko, Sokka and Azula, Azula kept firing at Zuko, but he keeps blocking it with his firebending. Sokka then ran up with his glowing energon sword and tried swinging it at Azula, but the princess ducked down in time and retaliated with a fire blast, to which Zuko immediately blocked and responded with a fire blast of his own. Azula easily dodged it and smirked to herself, but her smirk immediately turned to a look of shock as Sokka tried to stab her with his sword. Azula responded by moving back before Zuko firebended at his sister's feet. She responded by jumping and landed on the endge of the roof in a push up position, balancing herself with only her hands, before moving her legs across her body and firebending out of them. Zuko and Sokka responded by moving to the side, not knowing that the blast had blasted a soldier in the chest, killing him.

The last soldier advanced toward Suki, firebending at her constantly, when Sokka took notice and swung his sword at his neck, decapitating him and killing him instantly. Suki and Sokka then exchanged a look before Sokka went back to assist Zuko.

Back with Shockwave, he noticed that all six of his Extremis soldiers were killed easily. Shocked and angered, he called for a squad of guards to come in and activated the console in his cannon arm to try and activate a ground bridge, when a knife came in and damaged the console, much to Shockwave's dismay. He and the other guards turned around, and to their shock, the culprit was Mai.

"What are you doing!?" Shockwave asked.

"Saving the jerk who dumpped me," Mai dully responded before the area behind her exploded and Grimlock, in his T-Rex form, charged out of it and roared at Shockwave.

"Shockwave...you're finished!" Grimlock growled.

"Kill the traitor!" Shockwave ordered the guards. "I'll handle Grimlock!" The guards then advanced to Mai and firebended at her, only for Mai to smirk and get out two knives, throwing them at the guards and pinning them to the wall. Grimlock meanwhile transformed into his robot mode and tackled Shockwave to the ground, only for the scientist to kick him off of him and start shooting at him. While that was going on, Mai was sliding across the ground, taking out more and more guards with her knives, before dodging Grimlock's body flying right at her. Grimlock then immediately got up, only for Shockwave to punch him to the ground again.

Back at the gondola, the noise distracted everyone as they turned to see what was going on.

"Who is that!?" Sokka asked while Zuko just watched in shock.

"It's Mai!" Zuko exclaimed. Azula on the other hand was no so much shocked as she was furious that her friend was betraying her.

"What is she doing!?" she muttered before she activated a comlink in her ear. "Astrotrain." With that, Astrotrain flew in and opened his doors before Azula and Ty-Lee jumped inside. Azula gave a death glare to Zuko before closing the doors and before Astrotrain flew to the scene. Then the gondola reached the station and opened its doors before the group ran out of the gondola.

"Okay, we made it, now what?" Warpath asked. Then he noticed that Zuko had stopped in his tracks, thinking.

"Zuko, what are you doing?" Sokka asked.

"My sister was on that island," Zuko stated.

"Yeah, and she's likely right behind us, now let's go!" Ironhide responded.

"What I mean is she must have come here somehow," Zuko corrected as he ran to the edge of the rocks and spotted Azula's airship docked at the shore. "There, that's our way out of here."

* * *

Back at the island, Grimlock was pinned down to the ground by Shockwave and his cannon arm was pointed straight at his head.

"Time to die you worthless abomination," Shockwave growled as his cannon starts charging up.

"I...am not an abomination...**I**...**AM**...**KING!**" Grimlock roared as he bashed Shockwave's eye, cracking it. The scientist then exclaimed in pain and gets up off of Grimlock, allowing him to turn into his T-Rex mode and use his tail to bash Shockwave over the edge, causing him to fall into the boiling lake. Grimlock then roared into the sky and turned back into his robot mode, before jumping toward the cliff on the other side, using boosters on his feet to help him reach it. He then climbed up to the top and ran off.

Meanwhile, Astrotrain landed next to Mai, who was being held by her shoulders by two guards. The doors then opened, and a furious Azula walked out with a frightened Ty-Lee behind her.

"Leave us alone," Azula ordered. The guards responded by letting go of Mai before bowing and walking off. Mai said nothing as Azula glared at her.

"I never expected this from you," Azula stated as Ty-Lee looked back and forth at Azula and Mai, her mind running rampant over what to do. "The thing I don't understand is why. Why would you do it? You know the consequences."

"I guess you just don't know people as well as you think you do," Mai responded, unintimidated. "You miscalculated. I love Zuko, more than I fear you." Then, Azula snapped.

"No, you miscalculated!" she shouted. "You should have feared me more!" Azula then got ready to lightningbend while Mai got a stiletto out. Azula then stepped forward, ready to end her former friend's life, when Ty-Lee came in and jabbed Azula in the back, paralyzing her and causing her to fall to the ground, gasping and with a look of pure shock. Ty-Lee then ran up to a stunned Mai.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Ty-Lee said, but she was too late, as a squad of Vehicons and guards surrounded them, the Vehicons' weapons drawn out while two guards helped Azula up.

"You're both fools!" Azula exclaimed as the guards held onto her.

"Your orders Princess?" one of the Vehicons asked.

"Put them somewhere I'll never have to see their faces again, and let them rot!" Azula commanded in anger.

While that was going on, Shockwave emerged slowly from the boiling lake, weakly walking to the building, yet fuming with anger from the inside.

"This isn't over Grimlock," he muttered as he walked inside.

* * *

Later that night, the rest of the group were shocked to see a zeppelin landing at the Western Air Temple, and even more shocked to see Zuko, Sokka and Warpath walk out of it.

"What are you doing in this thing?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"What happened to the war balloon?" Katara asked.

"It kind of got destroyed," Zuko answered.

"Sounds like a crazy fishing trip," Smokescreen remarked.

"Did you at least get some good meat?" Toph asked.

"We did," Sokka answered. "The best meat of all. The meat of friendship and fatherhood." He then moved aside and the rest of the group were in shock to see Suki, Hakoda, Ironhide and Bumblebee walk out of the ship.

"Dad!" Katara exclaimed with tears in her eyes as she ran to her father and hugged him.

"Hi Katara," Hakoda happily said to her daughter.

"Ironhide!" Toph exclaimed as she ran up to hug her Autobot companion's leg.

"Hey kiddo," Ironhide softly said to his earthbending friend.

"How are you here?" Katara asked her father before turning to Sokka. "What's going on? Where did you go?"

"We...kind of went to a Fire Nation prison," Sokka responded to which Zuko and Warpath nodded in response before Sokka joined his sister to hug their father.

* * *

At the middle of the ocean, Cyclonus flew over the spot where Megatron was released into the sea and immediately plunged downward until he reached the ground and transformed. He then looked down at Megatron's corpse before he got out the dark energon crystal he found.

"Hail Megatron!" Cyclonus shouted before he plunged the crystal into Megatron's spark. Slowly but surely, his paint turned from a dark grey to a dark purple, similar to the color of the crystal while curved horns grew from his shoulders and two horns grew from the side of his head. His optics then shot open, now purple as opposed to red, as memories of his last moments came to him before shooting a death glare.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	24. The Southern Raiders

**DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon.**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 24: The Southern Raiders

* * *

It had merely been a day after the Boiling Rock incident, and the group was sleeping at the fountain area of the Western Air Temple. Morning had dawned, and Aang, who was laying on Appa, awoke with a yawn before getting up and observing the beautiful sunrise when something caught his eye. Three far away objects were approaching him fast. Then he heard the sound of something firing and suddenly a missle emerged from the clouds. His eyes widened in shock, Aang immediately got his glider out and airbended the missile away from him. Everyone awoke due to the noise of the missile exploding and saw that the three objects then came out of the clouds and revealed themselves to be the jet forms of Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp, with dozens of Jet Vehicons behind them.

"Unleash hell my armada!" Starscream commanded as more missiles were fired at the group and Fire Nation zeppelins rose from the clouds bellow the temple. "Leave no trace of their insidious existence!" Then bombs were launched from the zeppelins, destroying portions of the temple. Aang and Appa then ran up to the group and Aang airbended the doors to the fountain area shut as more bombs and missiles continued to bombard the area. The ceiling above the ground starts to crumble and shake til a piece of it dislodged and fell right towards Katara. Bumblebee then immediately ran to her and shielded his human companion from the piece of the ceiling.

"Thanks Bee," Katara said.

"(Anytime my friend,)" Bumblebee beeped in response. Then Haru and Toph went up to the wall and earthbended a huge hole in it.

"Come on, we can get through here!" Toph said to the others. Everyone then ran up to the tunnel, except Zuko, Powerglide and Ultra Magnus.

"What are you guys doing?" Aang asked.

"We'll hold them off as long as we can," Ultra Magnus answered.

"Besides, I think this is a family visit," Zuko added before he and Ultra Magnus started running to the airships while Powerglide transformed and flew into action.

"Guys, wait!" Aang yelled to the three of them before Sokka ran up and grabbed Aang's shoulder.

"Come on, we gotta get out of here!" he said before he, Aang and Katara started to pull on Appa's reins, trying to get him through the tunnel.

* * *

Back outside, Powerglide was busy dogfighting with the Jet Vehicons while Zuko and Ultra Magnus fired at the launchers on the zeppelins, Zuko with his firebending and Ultra Magnus with his shoulder cannons. Then another airship rose in front of them, and Zuko's assumptions were confirmed when Azula was spotted on the observation deck, smiling sinisterly yet for some reason crazily, looking down at Zuko and Ultra Magnus while Starscream swooped in and transformed, landing beside Azula, cackling like a mad man.

"Ultra Magnus," Starscream said to the Autobot commander. "I have heard many great things about you. Let us test those rumors, shall we?" Magnus responded by readying his hammer while Zuko looked up to his sister.

"What are you doing here!?" he asked.

"You mean it's not obvious!?" Azula responded. "I'm about to celebrate becoming an only child!" Azula then grabbed onto the railings and flipped over them, firebending through her feet at Zuko, but Ultra Magnus responded by using a swing of his hammer to block the blast. Zuko and Magnus then ran up to the airship, jumping to the side, firing at the observation deck. One of the missiles exploded and Azula and Starscream jumped off it and landed on the top of the ship. Ultra Magnus was able to latch on to the ship, but Zuko could not hang on and fell down through the clouds, vanishing.

"Zuko!" Ultra Magnus shouted before glaring up at Starscream and Azula, who merely glared back at him.

Back inside, Toph was trying her best to prevent the roof from caving in while the others tried to pull Appa into the tunnel, but there was one problem.

"I can't get him to go in there," Aang stated as Appa kept resisting and growling in protest. "Appa hates tunnels."

"Aang, there's no way we can fly out of here," Katara stated.

"We'll have to find a way," Aang replied as he loosens his grip on Appa's reins.

"We'll need to split up," Sokka said as he turned to those who were already in the tunnel. "Take the tunnel and get to the stolen airship."

"No, the Fire Nation can't separate our family again," Katara somberly said as she ran up to Hakod.

"It'll be okay, it's not forever," Hakoda reassured. Katara obviously does not want to do this, having only been reunited with her father for one day, but she realized that there was no choice, so she gave her father a hug and ran up to Appa while Sokka grabbed Suki's hand and ran to Appa.

"Warpath, report your location once you guys land somewhere safe," Springer said to the Autobot rookie.

"You got it," Warpath responded as he got his jetpack ready and the others ran through the tunnel.

"I can clear that away and we can fly out through there," Toph stated, referring to the wall in front of them, while she earthbended herself onto Appa.

"Um, there's an awful lot of fire and lasers in that general direction," Suki said, unsure of Toph's idea.

"We'll get through," Aang reassured as their surroundings started to crumble. "Let's go."

* * *

Outside, Azula and Starscream noticed that the fountain area's wall exploded and Appa and Warpath flew through with an earth shield in front of him. They were about to attack when Ultra Magnus came up and got in their line of fire.

"After them my legion!" Starscream commanded before Ultra Magnus bashed his face with his hammer. Then a squadron of Jet Vehicons flew after them while the brawl between Azula, Starscream and Ultra Magnus continued. Azula tried to firebend and Magnus' head, but he used his arm to block it before trying to swing at the princess with his hammer, but Azula easily jumped over it. Starscream tried to get the drop on him from behind, but one of Magnus' shoulder cannons fired straight at him, blasting him across the ship. Azula kept firing at Magnus with everything she had, the commander easily blocking them, when the roar of a zeppelin stopped them in their tracks. They turned around to see an airship hovering upward beside them, and Zuko was on the roof, looking at his sister while Azula smirked deviously, looking back at her brother. Zuko then ran across the ship and jumped to the ship Azula. The princess tried to blast Zuko with her firebending, but Zuko easily blocked it with his feet and landed in front of his sister. He then tried blasting her himself, but Azula easily dodged it and used her feet to firebend back, to which Zuko easily blocked. Zuko then ran toward her sister and the fight escelated.

Starscream meanwhile kept dodging every swing with Magnus' hammer and got out his razor sharp claws before scratching Magnus' arm with it. Magnus flinched slightly in pain as energon started leaking before Starscream tried to jab him in the spark with his claws. Magnus responded by kicking him away from him and leaping upwards to try and crush him with his hammer, but the seeker easily rolled out of the way before the hammer slammed onto the ground. Magnus then tried firing a missile at him, but Starscream easily dodged it and charged at Magnus.

Back with the Gaang, Katara waterbended a shield around the saddle of Appa to prevent any of the Jet Vehicons' laser blasts from hitting them while Warpath tried shooting them back with his chest cannon. He was capable of taking out two of the six, but the others kept dodging the blasts. Aang then noticed that the firebenders on one of the zeppelins started firing at them. Aang quickly reacted by pulling the reins on Appa, causing him to fly upwards, dodging the fire. Once Aang got control of his bison back, the Jet Vehicons resumed firing at them when Powerglide flew behind them.

"Never fear, Powerglide is here!" he remarked as he started shooting the Vehicons, taking the other four out with ease.

Back with Zuko and Azula, Azula easily blocked a fire blast from Zuko and immediately reacted with a blast of her own. Fortunately, Zuko kicked the flame away before both siblings firebended around their left hands and attempted to fire punch each other. Once they came in contact, the result was a huge explosion, launching both of them off the ship. It wasn't long before Appa swooped in and the Gaang caught Zuko in time. Azula on the other hand was still falling as Zuko could just watch in slight concern for his sister.

"She's not going to make it," Zuko said, that is before a Vehicon swooped in and Azula fell into his cockpit safely before flying away.

"Of course she did," Zuko remarked as Appa continued to fly away with Warpath and Powerglide beside him.

Back with Ultra Magnus and Starscream, Magnus was capable of hitting Starscream with his hammer, but the seeker responded by launching a missile at him, hitting him in the metal gut, causing him to fly back into a wall. Starscream then pinned him to the ground and readied his claws.

"Ultra Magnus..." Starscream said in a slightly mocking manner. "You are no Optimus Prime." Ultra Magnus simply closed his optics, waiting for Starscream to finish him, when a dark purple Cybertronian jet swooped in and collided with him, sending him screaming to an airship that was about half a mile away. Ultra Magnus simply got up, slightly confused.

"Uh...thanks? I guess?" he said as he jumped back to the air temple.

Meanwhile, Starscream landed on top of the airship, then got up and noticed two Cybertronian jets in front of him. Furious, he readied his weapons when the jets suddenly transformed, and much to the horror of Starscream, it was the newly reborn Megatron, with Cyclonus next to him.

"M-M-M-Megatron!? I-is that you!?" he stammered in fear.

"Here's a hint," Megatron growled before pointing his fusion cannon at him, unleashing a blast of dark energon at him at maximum power, creating a hole in his spark. The seekers optics widened in shock and pain before he fell down, dead, ending his reign. Megatron then turned to the Vehicons on the ship and glared at them, causing chills to run down their metal spines.

"Will anyone else attempt to fill his shoes?" Megatron coldly asked. The Vehicons responded by kneeling in front of their master, who smirked deviously.

Soon afterward, Azula walked to the bridge of her airship, fuming with rage, till her eyes widened when Starscream's corpse fell before her. She looked up and saw Megatron standing in front of her, and Azula experienced something she hasn't felt in a long time: pure fear. Megatron then pointed his fusion cannon at the princess.

"If you wish not to join your colleague, you will exlain yourself," Megatron coldly said to Azula, who tried to think of a lie that will save her skin.

"Uh, y-you see, Megatron, Starscream threatened t-to end this allince a-as well as my father's life if I did not comply," Azula responded. "I mearly ment to p-protect my father as well as this nation from the Avatar and the Autobots, and without the alliance, t-they would have crushed us! Please Megatron, you must believe me!" Azula then closed her eyes, expecting the worst, before Megatron simply lowered his fusion cannon, much to her surprise.

"Very well, I will allow you to live," Megatron stated as Azula let out a sigh of relief. "However, there will be some 'changes' made to this alliance."

"I understand Megatron," Azula responded as she kneeled before Megatron.

"And do not reffer to me as Megatron anymore," Megatron added, which slightly confused Azula.

"W-well then, what should we call you?" she asked. Megatron simply smirked before giving his answer.

"Henceforth, I shall be known as...'Galvatron'..."

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

The group eventually met up on Ember Island, camping out far away from any civilization.

"Wow, camping," Aang said as he and the others sat around a campfire. "It really seems like old times again, doesn't it?"

"If you really want it to feel like old times, I could, uhh... chase you around a while and try to capture you," Zuko remarked, which got a laugh from the rest of the kids...except Katara.

"Ha, ha," she sarcastically and sorely replied before Sokka raised his tea cup.

"To Zuko," he said. "Who knew after all those times he tried to snuff us out, today, he be our hero."

"Here here," replied everyone else, again, except Katara, as the others raise their cups.

"I'm touched, I really don't deserve this," Zuko said with a smile.

"Yeah, no kidding," Katara harshly said while glaring at Zuko before she stood up and left.

"What crawled up her tailpipe and died?" Smokescreen asked.

"I wish I knew," Zuko replied as he stood up and left as well, following Katara.

* * *

Zuko eventually reached Katara, who was kneeling near the edge of a cliff. Noticing Zuko, Katara merely got up and moved away.

"This isn't fair," Zuko stated. "Everyone else seems to trust me now. What is it with you?"

"Oh, everyone trusts you now?" Katara asked as she turned around, clearly hurt and seething with anger. "I was the first person to trust you, remember Back in Ba Sing Se. And you turned around and betrayed me. Betrayed all of us."

"What can I do to make it up to you?" Zuko asked, clearly guilty of what he did back at the Earth Kingdom all those months ago.

"You really want to know?" Katara asked as she walked toward Zuko. "Hmmm, maybe you could re-conquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King. Or, I know, you could bring my mother back!" With that, she walked past a speechless Zuko and walked back to camp.

* * *

Back at camp, Suki looked around warily as she walked toward one of the tents before accidently bumping into Zuko, who seemed to also be walking toward the same tent.

"Oops, wrong tent," Suki said as she immediately raised her arms and blushed.

"Sorry, do you need to see Sokka too?" Zuko asked as Suki walked away.

"Nope, not me," Suki immediately answered, still blushing and still walking away. Zuko just shrugged it off and went inside Sokka's tent. What he found was a sight for sore eyes. Sokka, lying on his stomach, candles surrounding him, roses above him and with a rose in his mouth. NOW Zuko knew why Suki was heading for Sokka's tent.

"Well hellooooooo-" Sokka said as he turned his head, only for his eyes to widen and for him to accidently eat the rose in his mouth when he saw Zuko. "Uh, Zuko! Yes, why would I be expecting anyone different?" With that, he coughed out a few rose petals as he feels the pain of swallowing a rose.

"So what's on your mind?" Sokka asked, clearly wanting to change the subject.

"Your sister, she hates me and I don't know why!" Zuko answered, obviously frustrated with the situation. "But I do care what she thinks of me."

"Nah, she doesn't hate you," Sokka replied, trying to reassure Zuko. Katara doesn't hate anyone. Except maybe some people in the Fire Nation." It took him a few seconds to realize what he just said.

"No, I mean, uh, not people who are good but used to be bad," he said. "I mean, bad people. Fire Nation people who are so bad, who have never been good and probably won't be ever!"

"Stop!" Zuko interrupted before his expression became more serious. "Okay, listen. I know this may seem out of no where, but I want you to tell me what happened to your mother."

"What?" Sokka asked, stunned with what Zuko requested. "Why would you want to know that?"

"Katara mentioned it before when we were imprisoned together in Ba Sing Se and again just now when she was yelling at me," Zuko answered. "I think somehow... she's connected her anger about that to her anger at me."

"It's not a day I like to remember," Sokka replied, looking to the side somberly as he remembers what happened that day.

* * *

_In the Southern Water Tribe, a young Sokka raised his head from a snow fort, only for a snowball to come in and hit him in_ _the face. Sokka wiped the snow to discover that it was a young, giggling Katara was the one who threw the snowball. Sokka_ _then heaved a huge snowball and prepared to throw it in retaliation when something caught his eye. He looked up and saw_ _that black snow rained down on the village._

_"I'm going to find Mom," Katara said, her look of joy now turning to concern as she ran past her brother while Sokka ran_ _in the other direction._

* * *

"Many of the warriors have seen the black snow before and knew what it meant," Sokka said to Zuko as he told him the story. "A Fire Nation raid."

* * *

_Three Fire Nation battleships closed in on the village as a few warriors, including Sokka, ran toward the soldiers that_ _were coming out of the ship._

* * *

"We were badly outnumberes," Sokka continued. "But somehow, we managed to drive them off. As quickly as they came, they just left. I was so relieved when it was over but, that's because I didn't know yet what had happened. I didn't know we lost our mother." He then lowered his head somberly, thinking about his mother's death.

"Wait," Zuko suddenly said. "Can you remember any details about the soldiers who raided your village Like, what the lead ship looked like?"

"...Yeah..." Sokka replied as he thought about the ships. "Sea Ravens. The main ship had flags with sea ravens on them." Once he said the words 'sea ravens,' Zuko immediately knew who the raiders were.

"The symbol of The Southern Raiders," Zuko responded. "Thanks Sokka."

"No problem," Sokka replied as he placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder and pushed Zuko out of the tent. "Thanks for stopping by...Thought he'd never leave." He then smiled as he rubbed his hands together and poked his head out of the tent's opening.

"Suki..." he whispered, only to see Zuko still outside his tent. Embarassed, Sokka just whistled and went back inside while Zuko stormed off.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ultra Magnus was discussing his mysterious savior from the raid of the Western Air Temple.

"Do you remember what it looked like sir?" Arcee asked.

"All I saw ws that it was a Cybertronian aircraft, and appeared to be dark purple..." Ultra Magnus answered. "But...I remembered seeing that the aircraft seemed to glow that same dark purple...almost as if...it was coated with dark energon."

"Well it's a Con, no doubt," Springer said. "I don't know too many Bots with that color."

"But why would he save Ultra Magnus if he's a Con?" Ironhide asked.

"(Maybe that wasn't his intention,)" Bumblebee suggested. "(Mybe he was after Starscream instead.)"

"CouldBe, YouKnowHowTheConsAreAlwaysAtItWithEachOther, AlwaysPickingFightsWithTheirOwn," Blurr responded.

"Only one way to find out," Ultra Magnus replied. "Powerglide, you'll need to spy on the Fire Nation and find this mysterious Decepticon."

"You got it boss," Powerglide responded as he jumped off a cliff and transformed, flying away into the horizon.

* * *

The next morning, Katara walked out of her tent, only to find Zuko sitting on a rock, sleepily.

"You look terrible," Katara harshly stated as she walked past him and rummaged through her bag.

"I waited out here all night," Zuko replied as he stood up, rubbing his eyes, and Katara started combing her hair.

"What do you want?" Katara asked, wanting to cut to the chase.

"I know who killed your mother," Zuko answered. Obviously that immediately got Katara's attention as her eyes widened and she stopped combing.

"I can help you find her," Zuko continued before Katara looked back at him, shocked at what he just said.

* * *

Afterward, the two of them walked toward Appa, which didn't go unnoticed by Aang, Sokka, (Who was fiddling around with a flower necklace. Five guesses on who he plans to give it to.) Arcee and Ultra Magnus.

"I need to borrow Appa," Katara bluntly said to Aang, who was busy feeding hay to his pet.

"Why? Is it your turn to take a little field trip with Zuko?" Aang asked in a slightly joking manner.

"Yes, it is," Katara answered, which visibly surprised Aang.

"Oh, what's going on?" Aang asked.

"We're going to find the man who took my mother from me," Katara answered, catching Sokka off guard as he lays the necklace aside and stood up.

"Sokka told me the story of what happened," Zuko explained. "I know who did it, and I know how to find him."

"What exactly do you think this will accomplish?" Ultra Magnus bluntly asked, which earned him a scoff from Katara as she shook her head.

"I should have known none of you would understand," she said as she walked away, but then she heard someone walk towards her. She turned around and surprisingly, it was Arcee.

"I understand," she said, looking down to Katara. "You're feeling so much pain and rage right now. You feel hatred and all you can think about is revenge."

"How would you know?" Katara bluntly asked. "A psycho didn't come in and take away someone you cared so much about." But then she noticed that Arcee hung her head down, sighing somberly.

"Yes...someone did..." Arcee replied. Katara's eyes then widened as she placed a hand on her mouth.

"I-I'm sorry Arcee," she quickly said.

"It's okay Katara, you didn't know..." Arcee replied.

"What happened?" Katara asked, slightly curious. Arcee then raised her head up slightly and kneeled down to Katara's level to tell her the story. Needless to say it wasn't easy for Arcee to be reminded of that day.

"Back on Cybertron I had a partner named Tailgate," she began. "We didn't really get along at first, but after a while, we became a powerful team, as well as close friends. Then came the day when he couldn't take out a sniper, forcing me to go in myself."

* * *

_In a Cybertronian city, a fierce battle raged on as Arcee ran through a birage of laser fire through enemy territory._

_"Arcee to Delta Team, requesting rendezvous coordinates, do you copy?" she asked through her comlink._

_"Arcee, you lost again?" Tailgate asked through his own comlink. "Your sense of direction could use some improvement."_

_"So could your AIM Tailgate," Arcee joked back as she kept running through the enemy territory. "If you tagged that sniper_ _back at the artilary depot, I wouldn't have had to break rank and engage the enemy hand-to-hand."_

* * *

_After a while, Arcee finally managed to outrun the enemy. Armed with her blaster, she looked around the Decepticon city_ _she was in while still talking to Tailgate._

_"From the sound of things, I'm guessing you came out ahead?" Tailgate asked._

_"Try waiting up for me this time and I'll give you the blow by blow," Arcee answered. "What's your position?"_

_"About half a click from the depot due north," Tailgate answered. "Think you can find it partner?"_

_"Trust me Tailgate, my navigation abilities ar-ugh!" Arcee started before suddenly a web shot came in and pinned her to_ _the wall. She tried to free herself, but to no avail, before another web shot blinded her._

* * *

_When Arcee awakened, she found herself in a dark room, held captive by some sort of device that held her arms to the_ _ceiling. Her legs on the other hand were held together by the same web substance that captured her in the first place._ _She kept trying to free herself when her captor walked behind her, revealing herself to be Airachnid._

_"Piece of advice, make yourself comfortable," Airachnid said in a cold yet mocking manner as she walked in front of Arcee_ _and brought out her claws. "You're going to be here a while." She then reached one of the claws up and scratched Arcee in_ _the face, leaving a burn mark from the poison that was coated in Airachnid's fingers. Airachnid then simply walked around_ _Arcee in a circle._

_"You know, for an Autobot, your resilience is quite impressive," she said. "In fact, I'm guessing that no matter what I_ _do to you, you'll never crack. Am I right?" All Arcee did in response was shoot a glare toward the spider-bot._

_"That's what I thought," Airachnid stated before the doors opened and two Vehicons brought in a wounded Autobot in front_ _of her. Much to Arcee's horror, it was Tailgate._

_"Tailgate?" she said to her partner, but Tailgate merely groaned in pain as the Vehicons stopped dragging him and held him_ _upward with the same device that was used to hold Arcee._

_"What have you done to him!?" Arcee demanded._

_"Not much...yet," Airachnid answered as she walked to her. "Just tell me what I want to know, or, well, you're a smart Bot,_ _I think you can imagine what happens to Tailgate next."_

_"I don't know the attack coordinates!" Arcee responded. Airachnid, obviously thinking she was lying, then walked up to_ _Tailgate._

_"I swear upon the Allspark, it's the truth!" Arcee said, but Airachnid ignored her and kept walking._

_"We shall see," she said as she reached Tailgate. Arcee could only struggle and beg for Airachnid to stop while she_ _readied one of the arms on her back._

_"No, please!" Arcee begged, but her words fell upon unmerciful ears, for Airachnid snarled at her captive and used her_ _extra arm to jab Tailgate in the chest and pull his spark out, killing him instantly. "__**TAILGATE!**__"_

* * *

Katara could only sit down and look up to Arcee in shock once her story was finished.

"Soon afterward Cliffjumper and Bumblebee came in and rescued me, but I wasn't the same afterwards," Arcee continued. "I had to make sure that I never had another partner again, so no one else could end up like Tailgate, so I drifted out, alone, until I ended up here, and needed help from Ultra Magnus to survive." Then, much to both Katara and Acree's surprise, Zuko walked up to Arcee.

"What was the name of the Con that killed your partner?" he asked.

"Airachnid..." Arcee answered, almost spitting out her name. "Why do you ask?"

"Because before I left the Fire Nation and before Megatron was killed, he enlisted her to lead the Southern Raiders," Zuko answered. Arcee's optics then widened in shock with what he just said before she scowled at the thought of Airachnid.

"Then I'm going with you," she stated, much to both Ultra Magnus and Aang's disapproval. They were about to say something when Zuko interrupted them.

"Katara and Arcee need this," he said. "This is about getting closure and justice."

"No, it's clearly about getting revenge," Ultra Magnus replied.

"Maybe it is Magnus!" Arcee shouted. "Maybe this is what we need! Maybe this is what they deserve!" Ultra Magnus was about to retaliate even further when Aang came forward.

"Arcee, the monks use to say that revenge is like a two-headed rat-viper." he said. "While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself."

"That's real cute Aang, but I have news for you," Arcee said as she glared at Aang. "This isn't air temple preschool, this is the real world, and in the real world, these two monsters will not stop causing pain and suffering until someone comes in and takes them down."

"Look, guys, I think Aang might be right," Sokka said.

"Then you didn't love Mom the way I did," Katara coldly responded, leaving Sokka speechless and shocked by what his sister just said.

"Katara..." was all he could say.

"Now that I know that man is out there, now that I know we could find him, I feel like I have no choice," Katara said.

"Katara, you do have a chioce: Forgiveness," Aang replied.

"That's the same as doing nothing," Arcee said.

"No it's not," Ultra Magnus responded. "Optimus once told me that it's easy to do nothing, but it's hard to forgive."

"It's not just hard," Katara started as she and Arcee walked away.

"It's impossible," Arcee finished while Zuko followed them.

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, Ozai had called a war meeting to discuss the final plans for the day when Sozin's Comet arrives, when he noticed Azula walk through the tapestries.

"Azula, my daughter, is there a reason why you are late for this war council?" Ozai coldly asked when he noticed a look of fear in his daughter's eyes that he had not seen before. He was about to ask why when he saw something glow dark purple behind the tapestries and Galvatron walked through. Ozai's eyes widened when he saw who it was while the Decepticons inside immediately kneeled before him.

"Megatron!? You're alive!?" Ozai exclaimed.

"In a way..." Galvatron coldly replied as he walked towards Ozai. "And starting now, there will be some changes made to our little alliance."

"What do you mean?" Ozai asked as he narrowed his eyes at Galvatron.

"First and for most, allow me to establish my new chain of command," he began. "While my Decepticons are still at your disposal, I shall be above you. In a way, I shall be the new Fire Lord." Those words clearly got to both Ozai and Azula.

"WHAT!?" both of them shouted before Ozai stood up continued. "You expect me to step down simply because you say so!? I will not allow my reign to end, not even to you!" Galvatron simply growled and fired his cannon at the ground below Ozai, causing him to fly to the wall and fall to the ground.

"You forget Ozai that we can destroy your entire nation with our hands tied behind our backs," Galvatron stated. "So I strongly suggest that you swear your allegiance to me before things take a turn for the worst." Ozai simply looked up and glared at Galvatron before accepting his terms and bowing on his knees before him.

"Much better," Galvatron said with a wicked smirk on his face.

"But you will still allow our plans for when Sozin's Comet arrives to commence, correct?" Ozai asked.

"But of course," Galvatron answered. "We will continue to work on Project Nemesis and Project Retribution will continue as scheduled." Ozai simply smirked to himself, knowing that his plans will continue.

"Second, once your plan has been finished and we leave the Earth, Shockwave will remain here to ensure our presence in this nation remains."

"Very well then," Ozai replied.

"And finally, you and the other Decepticons will refrain from calling me 'Megatron,'" Galvatron finished, which visibly confused everyone except Azula.

"Well if you ain't Megatron no more, then who are you?" Rumble asked. Galvatron simply walked up to Ozai's throne and sat down, looking at all of his subjects before responding.

"Galvatron..." he said before all of the Decepticons in the room raised their right fist upward.

"HAIL GALVATRON! HAIL GALVATRON! HAIL GALVATRON!" they chanted before the Fire Nation generals, out of fear, did the same. Galvatron looked down at the scene, and smirked wickedly.

* * *

Later that night, back with the Gaang, Zuko and Katara, who were dressed in black ninja-like outfits, along with Arcee, walked towards Appa, when Aang and Sokka walked to them.

"So you were just gonna to take Appa anyway!?" Aang asked.

"Yes," Katara bluntly answered.

"It's okay, because I forgive you," Aang responded before smiling, hoping those words sunk in. "That give you guys any ideas?"

"Don't try to stop us," Arcee said as she got up onto Appa's saddle.

"I wasn't planing to," Aang responded. "This is a journey you two need to take. But when you do, please don't choose revenge. Let your anger out and then let it go. Forgive them."

"Okay, we'll do that guru-goody-goody," Zuko remarked, clearly tired of Aang's preaching as he got on Appa and Katara got on Appa's head, holding on to the reins.

"Thanks for understanding Aang," Katara said before turning her head forward. "Yip-yip." With that, Appa took off and Aang and Sokka just looked as the bison departed.

"You know, you're pretty wise for a kid," Sokka complimented to Aang.

"Thanks Sokka," Aang responded.

"Usually it's annoying but right now, I'm just impressed," Sokka remarked, which visibly annoyed Aang.

"I appreciate that," he sarcastically replied.

"So...can I borrow Momo for a week?" Sokka suddenly asked.

"Why do you need Momo?" Aang asked. All Sokka did was shrug and make an 'I don't know' noise.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zuko discussed the plan to Katara and Arcee while Appa flew across the ocean.

"We need to find the Fire Navy communication tower," Zuko explained. "All the navy's movements are coordinated by messenger hawk, and every tower has to be up to date on where everyone is deployed."

"So once we find the communication tower, we bust in and take the information we need," Arcee stated, thinking she knows  
what to do.

"Not exactly Arcee," Zuko responded. "We need to be stealthy and make sure no one spots us. Otherwise, they'll warn the Southern Raiders. Long before we reach them."

"I'll wait with Appa then," Arcee said, knowing a giant robot wasn't exactly stealthy in the human world.

* * *

Once they landed at their destination, Arcee stayed behind while Katara and Zuko ran to the communications tower. Once they reached the end of the land, Katara waterbended an ice raft and the two of them jumped onto it before Katara waterbended it forward, towards the tower. Katara then waterbended an upward wave so she and Zuko could jump up to the tower. Once two Vehicons walked away from their post, Katara and Zuko quickly sneaked past them and went through the air ducts.

Soon the duo came across a female guard writing on a desk. Looking down below from the gratings, Katara then waterbended the ink next to the guard so the ink spilled onto the guard's hand and onto the table. Looking at her stained hand in annoyance, the guard left the room before Katara and Zuko busted out of the air duct, then looked through a shelf of documents.

"Okay, Southern Raiders," Zuko said as he pulled a scroll and unscrolled it on the table, revealing a map with three flags placed along some points in an inverted triangle. "There. On patrol near Whale Tail Island."

"Whale Tail Island, here we come," Katara stated.

* * *

After getting back with Arcee, they boarded Appa and headed for Whale Tail Island. It had been quite a while since they had left and Zuko was asleep while Katara was clearly tired, but held onto Appa's reins tightly. Arcee took notice and went up to Katara.

"You should probably get some rest," she advised. "You'll need all your strength when we get there."

"Now, don't you worry about my strength, I have plenty," Katara responded. "I'm not the helpless little girl I was when they came."

* * *

_"I'm going to find Mom," Katara said, her look of joy now turning to concern as she ran past her brother while Sokka ran_ _in the other direction. She then made it to her house to find her mother, Kya, on the ground in front of a Fire Nation_ _soldier._

_"Mom!" Katara exclaimed before the soldier turned around and looked her in the eye, frightening Katara._

_"Just let her go and I'll give you the information you want," Kya said to the soldier._

_"You heard your Mother, get out of here!" the soldier ordered to Katara._

_"Mom, I'm scared," Katara said to her mother._

_"Go find your dad sweetie, I'll handle this," Kya reassuringly replied. Reluctant, Katara then exited her home and ran_ _off._

* * *

"I ran as fast as I could," Katara said to Arcee as she told her the story of what happened.

* * *

_"Dad! Dad!" Katara shouted to Hakoda, who was throwing a firebender soldier into the snow. Please, I think Mom's in_ _trouble! There's a man in our house!" Once he heard those words, Hakoda immediately let go of the soldier and ran off._

_"Kya!" he exclaimed as he and Katara ran up to their home._

* * *

"But we were too late," Katara continued, her voice cracking up. "When we got there, the man was gone...and so was she." Arcee, feeling sympathetic, placed her hand gently on Katara's shoulder.

"Your mother was a brave woman," Arcee said.

"I know..." Katara responded as she placed her hand on her necklace.

* * *

After a while, Zuko has took over the reins while Katara took a nap. A few hours later, Zuko spots a ship on a telescope.

"There!" he said which immediately woke Katara up before Zuko tossed Katara the telescope. "See those Sea Raven flags? It's the Southern Raiders."

"Let's do this," Katara said as she lowered the telescope before Appa descended underwater while Katara bended an air bubble around him.

Meanwhile, on the ship, the Vehicons and soldiers were exchainging small talk.

"So there I was on guard duty when some Autobot pipsqueak named Wheelie ca-" one Vehicon started before a stream of water came in, grabbed him and sent him screaming into the water. The others looked upon the sight, stunned, when Katara broke through the surface and waterbended huge waves, sending them towards the ship. One of the soldiers heard it and tried to warn the others when he turned around, but the wave collided with the ship and sent all of the guards and the Vehicon to the water. Once they had been taken care of, Appa landed on the ship and Katara, Zuko and Arcee ran inside when a Vehicon ambushed Arcee from a door from the side, but Arcee immediately got her blade out and decapitated the Vehicon before running back to Katara and Zuko. They continued to walk down the corridor, Katara with her arms consumed with water, when they made it to the door at the end of the hallway.

"This is it Katara," Zuko said.

"Are you ready?" Arcee asked as she got her blaster ready. Katara nodded once in response before Arcee immediately blasted the door down. Arcee quickly shot down the two Vehicons inside and blocked a firebending blast from the captain, whom they assume is Kya's killer.

"Who are you?" the captain asked.

"You don't remember her?" Zuko asked, reffering to Katara as he entered the room with Katara behind him. "You will soon. Trust me." Zuko then firebended at the captain, who moved to the side and broke the flame. He was about to attack again when his arm suddenly stopped, much to his horroer.

"What?" he asked when his arm moved around wildly and forced him to the ground. "What's happening to me!?" Zuko then turned, shocked to see Katara in a bloodbending stance, before Katara forced the captain to the ground. Arcee then walked to the captain, glaring down at him.

"Think back to your last raid on the Southern Water Tribe," she said.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" the captain responded. "Please, I don't know!"

"Don't you dare lie to us!" Arcee shouted before pointing to Katara. "Look her in the eye and you tell me you don't remember what you did you monster!" Katara, seething with rage, then walked up to the frightened captain and looked him in the eye. However, when she did so, her eyes immediately widened.

"It's not him," she said as she lowered her arms. "He's not the man."

"What!?" Zuko exclaimed. "What do you mean he's not!? He's a leader of The Southern Raiders! He has to be the guy!" Katara didn't respond and merely turned around to walk away. Zuko then noticed the captain struggling to get back up and immediately pulled him by the arm and pushed him against the window.

"If you're not the man we're looking for, who is!?" Zuko demanded.

"You must be looking for Yon Rha," the captain answered. "He retired four years ago." Upon hearing that, Katara's tear filled eyes opened with determination before Zuko let go of the captain and he and Arcee followed Katara outside, only for Zuko and Katara to get webbed to the wall. Arcee's optics widened in horror before she heard someone laughing deviously from above. She turned to see Airachnid standing on top of the tower of the ship.

"Arcee, how good it is to see you again," Airachnid remarked with a wicked smirk on her face. "How's Tailgate?" That clearly got to Arcee, for she then yelled up at Airachnid and fired a birage of laser blasts at her, to which the spider-bot easily dodged. Airachnid then tackled Arcee to the ground and threw her against the wall. She was about to finish her when Arcee got out her blades and sliced two of Airachnid's extra arms off. The spider-bot exclaimed in pain, allowing Arcee to kick her in the face, sending her across the deck of the ship. Airachnid tried to get up when Arcee, consumed with anger, pinned her to the ground and punched her face repeatedly.

"**THIS**, **IS**, **FOR**, **TAILGATE!**" Arcee said in between punches before Airachnid grabbed her fist and kicked Arcee off of her. She then got up and readied her arms for the kill when Arcee fired her blaster at Airachnid, sending her to the wall. Before Airachnid had the chance to counter attack, Arcee pinned her to the wall and got her blades ready, aiming to decapitate Airachnid.

"When you extinguish my spark, make it hurt," Airachnid coldly said. "You know I would extend that courtesy to you." Arcee then readied to end Airachnid there and now, when her eyes widened in realization and she stopped when her blades were an inch from Airachnid's neck. Airachnid simply looked at Arcee, slightly confused when Arcee retracted her blades.

"No...I won't do it..." Arcee said with her head down.

"Very well," Airachnid coldly replied before she tackled Arcee and pinned her to the ground with her extra arms. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time Arcee, the day that I rip your still beating spark out of your chassis!" She then readied one of her arms while Arcee shut her optics, waiting for Airachnid to finish her when she heard some type of piercing sound. She opened her optics to see Airachnid, her optics widened in shock as she looked down and saw ice spikes coming out of her chassis, energon leaking from the wounds. Arcee looked behind Airachnid and saw Katara in a waterbending position and with Zuko behind her. Then Arcee kicked Airachnid off of her and into the ocean, where her spark extinguished just a few seconds later.

* * *

Soon afterward, the trio boarded Appa and set off to Yon Rha's location. Katara continued to steer Appa while Zuko took a nap, but Arcee just sat there, breathing deeply.

"Why didn't you do it?" Katara asked which immediately got Arcee's attention. "You had Airachnid at your mercy, so why didn't you end her?"

"I thought back to what Optimus said to me before we attacked Kaon," Arcee answered.

* * *

_The Autobots stood a few miles away from Kaon, observing the Decepticon capital, waiting for when to strike, when Arcee_ _noticed Airachnid walking inside._

_"Airachnid," Arcee growled as she got out her blades. Then she heard Optimus walk to her._

_"Easy Arcee," Optimus warned._

_"How can I be 'easy' when that glitch is right there!?" Arcee asked before she started walking towards the capital._ _Optimus then grabbed her shoulder before she went any further._

_"Arcee, revenge is like a poison," Optimus begun. "A poison that slowly begins to take you over, and before you even_ _notice it, it will turn you into something you're not." Arcee took in Optimus' words before hesitantly retracting her_ _blades and getting back into position._

* * *

"Katara, I understand that it's impossible to forgive this man for what he did." Arcee began. "I couldn't forgive Airachnid for what he did to Tailgate, even when I stood down. But when you face Yon Rha, please, don't let vengeance consume you." Katara just looked down and took in Arcee's words before they neared the island where Yon Rha lived.

* * *

At the island, Yon Rha was outside his home, gardening, when an elderly lady appeared at the doorway of the house behind him.

"Yon Rha, you lazy piece of work, I need something!" she demanded harshly.

"Yes mother, what is it?" Yon Rha asked as he stopped his gardening, trying to contain his annoyance.

"The tomato-carrots from your garden are too hard for my gums, I need something soft and juicy!" Yon Rha's mother responded.

"Would you like something else from the garden?" Yon Rha asked. "I would be happy to-"

"Forget your stupid garden!" Yon Rha's mother yelled. "Get your grimy hind to the market and buy me some real food!"

* * *

Once Yon Rha had made it to the town and walked to one of the stands, he immediately purchased some food for his mother. Suddenly, a chiming tune was heard and Yon Rha turned to see what it was, but saw nothing.

"Hello?" he asked before turning to the stall owner. "Did you see someone?" The owner responded by shaking his head 'no' before Yon Rha walked back home.

Once he was on the slopes, he could feel as though someone was following him and turned around again.

"Hello?" he asked, but again, no one was there. "Is someone there?" No response. Yon Rha decided to shrug it off again and keep walking, unaware that Katara, Zuko and Arcee were hiding behind a rock.

"That was him," Katara said, her eyes consumed with hatered. "That was the monster."

Soon, rain started to fall, and Yon Rha could again feel as though someone was following him. This time, when he turned, he dropped the basked of food he was carrying and firebended at a bush, setting it ablaze.

"Nobody sneaks up on me without getting burned!" he shouted before an explosion from the ground sent him flying against a tree. He looked up to see Arcee walking to him, smoke coming from her blaster.

"We weren't behind the bush," Arcee stated before pointing her blaster at Yon Rha. "And I wouldn't try firebending again."

"Whoever you are, take my money!" Yon Rha exclaimed, visibly frightened. "Take whatever you want, I'll cooperate." Then he noticed Katara and Zuko walk up to him. Katara then pulled down her face mask.

"Do you know who I am?" Katara coldly asked.

"No...I'm not sure," Yon Rha answered.

"Oh you better remember me like your life depends on it!" Katara responded. "Why don't you take a closer look." Yon Rha did just that, and when he realized who she was, his eyes widened in terror.

"Yes, yes, I remember you now," he said. "You're the little Water Tribe girl."

* * *

_"Just let her go and I'll give you the information you want," Kya said Yon Rha._

_"You heard your Mother, get out of here!" Yon Rha ordered to Katara._

_"Mom, I'm scared," Katara said to her mother._

_"Go find your dad sweetie, I'll handle this," Kya reassuringly replied. Reluctant, Katara then exited her home and ran_ _off._

_"Now, tell me, who is it?" Yon Rha asked in a demanding tone. "Who's the waterbender?"_

_"There are no waterbenders here," Kya answered. "The Fire Nation took them all away a long time ago."_

_"You're lying," Yon Rha replied. "My source says there's one waterbender left in The Southern Water Tribe. We're not_ _leaving until we find the waterbender."_

_"If I tell you, do you promise to leave the rest of the village alone?" Kya asked somberly. Yon Rha simply nodded his head_ _his head once before Kya responded._

_"It's me," she said, which was of course a lie. "Take me as your prisoner."_

_"I'm afraid I'm not taking prisoners today," Yon Rha responded with an evil smile on his face._

* * *

Yon Rha continued to look up at Katara, gulping in fear as lightning started striking in the background.

"She lied to you," Katara said to him as she looked away and closed her eyes sadly. "She was protecting the last waterbender."

"What!?" Yon Rha asked, shocked at what she said. "Who?"

"...**ME**!" Katara shouted with all of her fury as she waterbended to make the raindrops stop in mid air, causing a dome to form on top of them. Katara then pulled some of the water and froze it to form spikes before yelling with fury and bending the spikes towards Yon Rha. Zuko did nothing except watch while Arcee closed her optics with her head down, hoping Katara wouldn't do what she thought she was doing, when suddenly, the spikes stopped, inches from Yon Rha, who was cowering in fear. Katara then slowly lowered her hands as the spikes turned to water and fell to the ground. Arcee opened her optics and sighed in relief at Katara's actions.

"I did a bad thing, I know what I did was wrong and you deserve revenge, so why don't you take my mother?" Yon Rha asked in a kneeling position. "That would be fair."

"I always wonder what kind of person could do such a thing." Katara started. "But now that I see you, I think I understand. There's just nothing inside you. Nothing at all. You're pathetic and sad and empty."

"Please, spare me!" Yon Rha pleaded.

"But as much as I hate you...I just can't do it," Katara finished before controling her feelings and walking away from Yon Rah, who hung his head in shame, sobbing, while Zuko and Arcee followed Katara.

* * *

Once back on Ember Island, Katara and Arcee just sat near the edge of a dock, staring to the distance sadly, neither of them saying a word, before Zuko and Aang walked to them.

"Are you guys okay?" Aang asked.

"We're doing fine," Katara replied.

"Zuko told me what you two did," Aang said. "Or...what you didn't do, I guess. I'm proud of you two."

"We wanted to do it," Arcee began. "We wanted to take our anger at them, but we couldn't. We don't know if it's because we're too weak to do it or if it's because we're strong enough not to."

"You did the right thing," Aang responded. "Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing."

"But we didn't forgive them," Katara said as she and Arcee stood up and walked toward Aang and Zuko.

"We'll never forgive them," Arcee added before Katara turned to Zuko.

"But I am ready to forgive you," Katara said before embracing Zuko into a hug. After a while, they parted and Katara. walked away.

"You were right about what Katara needed," Zuko said to Aang. "Violence wasn't the answer."

"It never is," Aang responded.

"Then I have a question for you," Zuko stated. "What are you going to do when you face my Father?" Once that bombshell hit Aang, he looked off to the side, unsure and confused, when he noticed Ultra Magnus running to them with a concerned look in his eyes.

"What is it sir?" Arcee asked when Magnus stopped in front of them.

"Powerglide came back," Ultra Magnus answered with a serious and concerning tone. "The Con that ambushed Starscream at the Western Air Temple...was Megatron." Upon hearing that, Aang, Zuko and Arcee's mouths lowered in shock.

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, Galvatron, Shockwave and Sixshot were being transported via an elevator to the lower levels of the Decepticon base.

"Project Nemesis is complete my lord, and I expect Project Retribution to be finished the day before the comet arrives," Shockwave reported.

"Excellent Shockwave," Galvatron responded before turning to Sixshot. "Sixshot, once Retribution is finished, you will be in charge of commanding it."

"Yes Mighty Galvatron," Sixshot responded as the elevator kept going lower, revealing to their optics what Project Retribution was. The massive Godzilla like Decepticon known as 'Trypticon.'

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	25. The Tale of Mai and Ty-Lee

**IT'S BEEN A WHILE HASN'T IT? WELL YOU ALL MAY KNOW THAT I HAVE AN AWESOME FRIEND THAT HELPED ME BY WRITING TWO CHAPTERS IN THIS STORY. WELL, HE CONTACTED ME AND OFFERED TO WRITE IN A CHAPTER ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO MAI AND TY-LEE AFTER THE BOILING ROCK, AND THE RESULT IS ONCE AGAIN AN AWESOME CHAPTER. ANYWAY, AS ALWAYS, TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON.**

* * *

Chapter 25: The Tale of Mai and Ty-Lee

* * *

After her and Ty-Lee's betrayal at the Boiling Rock, both Mai and the acrobat were sent to a Fire Nation prison in the Earth Kingdom known the Iron Gates. While it wasn't as infamous as the Boiling Rock or the royal prison in the Fire Nation's capital, The Iron Gates was still a place you didn't want to be sent to. The location of the jail was out in the hot plains of the Fire Nation, hundreds of miles away from any civilization, so if someone did escape, they'd more the likely die of a heat stroke or starve to death. The living conditions for inmates were deplorable as well. The food was poor even by prison standards, the water was contaminated and the guards had a track record of frequently beating the inmates for the fun of it. Azula wanted them to suffer for turning against her and she certainly got her wish.

When the two girls arrived at the Iron Gates, they were immediately separated and taken to different levels. Mai was currently being dragged by two guards into an empty cell, which they then forcefully shoved her into.

"Make yourself at home traitor" one of the guards sneered at the girl before locking the door behind her "You're going to be here for a long time"

Mai said nothing to the guards and she got back on her feet. She only shot them steely glare before they walked away. Mai then turned around to see her new surrounds, which was nothing more than a stone floor and a bucket in the corner that smelled like it hadn't been poured out in weeks.

Just then the sound of someone clapping their hands together, she turned around to see a short, skinny man with and an eye-patch over his right eye with a short cut beard on his chin. The skinny man had a wicked smile on his face as he approached the young woman's cell. Mai's eyes narrowed in distain at this newcomer, but she couldn't shake the feeling that heat he wasn't just another guard.

"This is truly a great day for me" the man began slyly "Mai, the lover of the traitorous son of Fire Lord and her circus freak friend, guests in my prison. I have to say I'm bit star-struck."

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're the warden right?" Mai asked dully, as if her life wasn't at stake.

"Chi-Po at your service my lady" he replied with a mock bow. "Or should I say you'll be at my mercy."

"We're did you take Ty-Lee?" Mai demanded sharply.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about your friend; the guards are taken good care of her" Chi-Po answered "Like they always say: spare the rod, spoil the child."

"If you hurt her I swear I will-" Mai tried to threaten.

"You'll do nothing!" the warden snapped back. "You're not in any position to make demands!"

The warden then stepped closer to the cell until he was only inches away from the bar.

"While you're in here I want you to think of everything you could've done to stop this from happening to you," the warden informed her in a dark manner. "I want you to realize that this is hell."

Now it was Mai's turn to walk up to the bars, she showed no sign of fearing the little man before her.

"You don't know what hell is," she said in dark tone. "Because here's what's going to happen: First, I'm going to break out of this cell. Next I'm going to find Ty-Lee, and then...I'm going to cut out your heart. That is, if you even have one."

He didn't show it on his face, but Mai could see it in his eyes that he was afraid of her. He scoffed at her words before steeping back a few feet, mostly to keep himself out of reaching distant of her arm.

"I doubt it my dear," he replied with a chuckle, still trying to hide his fear. "Remember that you are my prisoner Mai, and I will not tolerate your brutish threats"

"Who said they were threats?" she commented with cold look in her eyes.

The warden said nothing. He instead let out a an irritated grunt before walking away, leaving Mai feeling triumphant for all of two seconds before being reminded of her situation and worrying about her acrobatic friend.

"Well, I've never seen that happen before," a female voice spoke up from one of the cells. "It almost looked like the warden was going to pee his pants."

Mai's head turned to the right to see a young girl almost her age, standing in behind the bars of her cell that was across from hers. Her hands clasped the bars as she glared daggers at the former daughter of a noble family. The emotionally repressed girl couldn't help but feel like she had met this other inmate before.

"Do I know you?" Mai asked bluntly.

"You should, because you're the reason my friends and I are here in the first place!" the girl snapped.

It didn't take long for Mai to figure out what she meant by that.

"You're one of the Kyoshi Warriors" she said in acknowledgement

"Yes, and I have to say, it makes me feel a bit better knowing that you're trapped in here with me and my friends," the imprisoned warrior darkly answered.

"Actuality it's the other way around, you and your friends are trapped in here with me," Mai corrected "But we don't have to be enemies."

"And why's that?" the Kyoshi Warrior inquired sharply.

"Because right now we're on the same side," Mai explained. "Are the other warriors in this prison too?"

"All except Suki," the warrior responded somberly "She was sent to the Boiling Rock since she was our leader."

Mai thought back to the other prisoners Zuko and the water tribe boy had rescued. She noticed a young girl with great fighting abilities battling Ty-Lee and Azula alongside her lover. If she had to take a wild guess, she figured that was the leader her fellow inmate was talking about.

"I should tell you that your leader escaped the Boiling Rock with Zuko and some other inmates" Mai began.

"And just how do you know that?" the Kyoshi Warrior hissed back.

"Because I helped them escape," Mai replied before getting a glare from the warrior. "What did you think I was put in here for fun?"

"That still doesn't mean you helped her," another voice cut in.

Mai's eyes looked further down the cellblock opposite to her to see a large cell with a force field in front of it that she did not notice before hand. Mostly due to the fact that the guards had dragged her in here. The prisoner in question was a bright yellow Autobot with bright blue optics and cell he was in was obviously a gift from the Decepticons to the Fire Nation.

"I thought all of the Autobots were locked up in the Fire Nations Capital Prison. Why are you here?" she questioned.

"Several of us were transferred to other prisons throughout the Fire Nation," the yellow Bot explained. "Me and my brother Sideswipe were brought here only a week before you and your friend came along."

"His name's Sunstreaker in case you were wondering," the Kyoshi Warrior added on.

"Well I wasn't so thanks for nothing," Mai replied "And I don't care if you believe me or not, I just want to find Ty-Lee and get out of here."

"Looks like we all have someone to save in the prison," Sunstreaker commented. "And I think your right Mai. We don't we need to be enemies at all."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're planning something" the Kyoshi Warrior remarked.

"That I am Min," Sunstreaker responded with a smirk. "And Mai's just the human to pull it off."

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Later that night, one of the guards made his rounds, making sure that inmates were asleep. As he walked down the hallways, he noticed the prison's newest inmate still awake and sitting on the ground, causally picking dirt out of her finger nails.

"Hey, get to sleep!" he ordered.

"I don't sleep much," Mai replied in her usual uncaring tone while not looking at him.

"I wasn't asking..." the guard order warned darkly as his fist ignited. "Now get to sleep before I make you go to sleep!"

"Ooh so scary," Mai sarcastically answered as she rolled her eyes. "I'd like to see you try."

With an angered growl, the frustrated guard took out his keys and opened the door to Mai's cell, ready to send the young girl to the infirmary. As the guard opened the cell and stepped inside, Mai stood up and calmly stretched, as if she didn't care he was about to burn her face off.

The prison guard shot out his fist in order to launch a blast of fire at her, but in a flash, the young girl grabbed the man's wrist and broke it with ease. Before the guard had a chance to scream in pain, Mai covered his mouth with her free hand and snapped his neck in one quick move. After she dropped the guard's lifeless corpse to the ground, she then reached down and took the keys off of his belt and proceeded to let herself out.

"Did you really need to kill him?" Min asked. "Couldn't you have knocked him out or something?"

"If I did that, he would've woken up and alerted the other guards," Mai elaborated "Now do you want me to let you out or are you going to just stand here and discuss ethics?"

Even though Min still felt uneasy about this alliance, she needed to work with Mai's in order to find the other warriors. She nodded to her new partner, silently telling her to open her cell, which she did.

"Good, now we need to free Sunstreaker" the Kyoshi Warrior said. "The guards have some kind of code they type on that control panel next to his cell to keep the force field up."

"We don't have time to stand around and try to figure it out," Mai responded

She then walked back to the dead guard's body and took his night stick from his belt and with pin point accuracy, hurled it into the control panel, causing it to malfunction and shut down.

"Good work Mai," Sunstreaker complimented. "Now let's get going before it's too late."

"But how are we going to find everyone in this prison?" Min asked. "We have no idea where they we're locked up nor do we have the time to check every cell."

Just then another guard walked into the cellblock, before he could say a word, Sunstreaker snatched him up and held the human to his Optics.

"We need to find some our fiends and you're going to tell us where they are," he commanded. "Or I'm going to start squeezing?"

"T-they're keeping the circus girl and the other Autobot in cellblock eighteen," the guard stammered out. "And the other Kyoshi Warriors are being held in different cells in multiple blocks."

"Ok, so here's what's going to happen," Sunstreaker said. "You're going to go with my friend Min here and you're going to show her where her friends are being held, then you're going to lock yourself up in one of the cells and stay there, and if you try to call for help, I will find you...and I will kill you."

The now petrified guard quickly nodded in response before the giant robot set him down. He then followed Min, all the while sweating in terror of being stepped on or something worse.

"And as for the rest of you," Sunstreaker continued to the inmates who had woken up due to the commotion. "If anyone of you try to call the guards or ask to be freed, I will personally make sure you regret that choice; understand?"

Needless to say, the inmates got the message pretty quick.

"I thought the Autobots were all about peace and love," Mai said.

"I'm one of the exceptions," the yellow Autobot replied in a cold tone. "Now come on, let's get your friend and my brother."

* * *

It took the unlikely duo over a half hour to reach the cellblock that was holding Sideswipe and Ty-Lee due to the fact they had to avoid the other guards that patrolled the other cell blocks. The two searched through the prison cells until they came upon a large holding cell like Sunstreaker's that held his brother within it.

"Is that you bro?" Sideswipe asked in almost a whisper.

"Yeah Swipes, it's me," his twin answered. "I'm busting you out of here."

"What's she doing here?" the red Autobot questioned as he noticed Mai.

"She's with us," his brother explained before getting a puzzled look from him. "Yeah, I know it's weird, just go with it."

Sunstreaker then began to press a few buttons on the cell's control panel, attempting to override it so he could free the other Cybertronian.

"This may take a while Mai, go find your friend and meet us back here," Sunstreaker informed her.

The girl nodded before swiftly running down the hallways, hoping to find her acrobatic friend. As she ran past the prisoners, she could see all the suffering and torment in just their eyes alone. It was at that moment she started to see why Zuko had left his homeland in the first place. It was then that she heard a tiny, yet familiar voice spoke up from one of the cells.

"Mai, is that you?" it asked weakly.

Mai then stopped and turned in the direction of where she had heard the voice and found her friend hanging against a wall of her cell with her wrists cuffed on each side. Even in the darkness Mai could see the cuts and bruises all over her body. Mai quickly got the door open with the keys she had stolen and ran up to Ty-Lee.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

"Th-they beat me for harming Azula," Ty-Lee explained weakly.

"Don't worry, I'm here now," Mai said reassuringly as she unlocked the shackles on her wrists and helped her down. "Now come on, let's get out of here."

"B-but Mai, I can't!" the acrobat whispered.

"Of course you can Ty-Lee, you just need to-" Mai attempted to say before being cut off.

"No, you don't understand!" Ty-Lee interrupted. "Th-the guards broke my legs, I can't walk!"

Mai looked down at her friends legs and gasped in horror at the sight of the bones sticking out in her legs. It almost made her vomit on the spot, but she resisted the urge.

"Just leave me Mai," the normally spunky girl said with tears rolling down her face. "Get out of here and go find Zuko."

"I'm not leaving you behind!" Mai answered, tears in her eyes as she scooped up her friend in her arms. "We're leaving this place together."

"Mai there's something you have to know," Ty-Lee whispered. "I overheard the guards talking about the Boiling Rock, and they mentioned your uncle."

Mai's eyes widened in shock at hearing that. She then realized that the whole time she was at that hell-hole of a prison, she never once saw her uncle or even thought about looking for him while she was there. She was so wrapped up in seeing Zuko that she completely forgot of even trying to find the only member in her entire family that ever gave a damn about her.

"When Shockwave came to take control of the Boiling Rock, your uncle refused to give up his position as warden to him," the acrobat explained as she fought through the pain in her legs. "Shockwave made him his first test subject for the Extremis steroid. They said he died horribly...I'm so sorry Mai."

It was almost as if the whole world stopped in Mai's mind. She had just found out that not only was her uncle dead, but he also died as nothing more than a lab rat to one of Shockwave's sick experiments. Her body then began to course with a feeling hardly ever felt: rage. In that moment she made a promise that to herself that before this war was over, she was going to make both Azula and Shockwave pay for what they did to her uncle and her closest friend.

"Hold it right there!" a voice commanded from behind the girls.

While still holding Ty-Lee, Mai turned around to see a guard in a fire-bending stance, ready to incinerate them on the spot.

"You two are coming with me to see the warden right now!" he ordered. "Or I will use deadly for-"

A strong blow to the back of his head made the guard slumped to the floor, knocked out by an unseen attacker. The mysterious person in question who had saved the two girls was indeed Min, who was standing alongside her fellow Kyoshi Warriors as well as the Autobot twins.

"Looks like we've got everyone," Min said. "Now let's get out of here before we're caught."

"You guys go ahead" Mai replied as she handed Ty-Lee to Min. "There's something I need to do first."

"No Mai, we won't leave you behind!" Ty-Lee cried out in a panic. "Please come with us!"

"I'll be right behind you, I promise," Mai assured her friend before addressing the rest of the group. "Get her to safety. If I'm not with you at the prison courtyard fifteen minutes, go on without me."

Despite the acrobat's protests, the Autobots and the Kysohi Warriors headed toward the courtyard in order to begin the next phase of their breakout plan. The weapons master then took a knife from the knocked out guard's back pocket and walked in the other direction. She had a promise to keep to the warden.

* * *

Chi-Po was getting nervous. Some of his men weren't reporting in from their night shift patrols. At first he figured they were just being late or beating a few noisy inmates to keep them in line, but as the hours went by, the warden still heard nothing. As he sat in his office, all he could think about was Mai's threat she made to him earlier today. Did she break out and start killing off his men one by one before coming for him? No, that was a silly notion, she was only trying to scare him and he would not give into his fears.

At that moment however, a dark shadow loomed over his desk, engulfing him in its darkness and there, standing before him was Mai with a knife in her hand.

"Welcome to hell," she said in almost a whisper.

And with that, she showed Chi-Po that she was indeed a girl of her word.

* * *

"She's taking too long," Sunstreaker said impatiently. "Let's just get going."

"Hold on bro, she's still got about five more minutes," Sideswipe reasoned. "Just take it easy and wait"

The yellow Autobot grumbled to himself, clearly not liking the idea of waiting any longer. Just then, Mai walked out into the spot where they had all agreed to meet in the courtyard: a blind spot in the guard tower's sight.

"I'm ready, let's go," was all she said.

Ty-Lee then noticed something that covered her best friend's hands: blood.

"What did you do Mai?" she questioned.

"Let's just say that I had a promise to keep," Mai answered.

* * *

At the time that the group of escaped inmates were almost in range of freedom, a pair of guards headed toward their boss's office. They had discovered one of their fellow guards dead and other knocked out as well as several empty cells. This could only mean one thing: a breakout had happened.

"Do you want to go in there?" of the men asked.

"Hell no, the warden is going to flip out when he hears this and I do not what to be the one to take the brunt of it," the other one replied.

"Oh fine I'll tell him, you wuss," the first guard sighed before walking into Chi-Po's office.

It took less than five seconds for the prison guard to walk in and then walk back out, only now he looked as pale as the dead.

"Where's the warden?" the other guard inquired.

"...see for yourself..." the first guard replied.

The other guard was confused by his co-workers statement and decided to look into the room himself. He instantly covered eyes once he saw the horror that was in the warden's office. There was the warden's body sitting at his desk, with his heart cut out and sitting on his desk like an apple sitting on a teacher's desk.

"Someone sound the alarm!" the guard shouted "And get on the radio, I want Decepticon assistance now! We are going to find the ones who did this and make them suffer!"

* * *

The sound of the alarm echoed throughout the prison. Searchlights came to life as they shined on every dark corner of the facility. This of course made the inmates task of escaping even harder than before.

"They know!" Min exclaimed in shock.

"You want to tell me what did Mai!?" Sunstreaker shouted in anger.

"I killed the warden," Mai replied dryly.

Everyone, even Ty-Lee, looked at the dark-haired girl in disbelief. Not only did she blow their cover, but she also did something that could endanger all their lives as well.

"What the frag were you thinking!?" Sideswipe scolded. "Did killing that man mean that much to you, even if it meant costing all our lives!?"

"I just lost it okay?!" Mai snapped back. "At first I was just trying to scare him, but while I was looking for Ty-Lee, I saw all of other inmates in the prison and when I saw what the guards did to Ty-Lee I lost control of myself!"

"Well I hope you're happy, because now we might never get out of here alive!" Sunstreaker yelled in rage.

"We'll talk about this later, let's just focus on getting out of here," Min cut in.

"I think that might be a bit harder than you think Min," Sideswipe mentioned as he looked up.

"Why's that?" one of the Kyoshi Warriors spoke up.

"Because of him!" Sideswipe exclaimed as he pointed up at sky as an object flew down on them.

The object was a purple and tan jet that rocketed down on the group like a missile. It didn't take long for Mai, Ty-Lee and the twins to figure out who was attacking them.

"It's Blitzwing!" Sunstreaker exclaimed in horror.

The Decepticon fire a volley of laser fire down on the escapees, forcing the bots to shield their human allies with their bodies. The jet then pulled up and flew off a bit further before turning around so he could unleash another attack.

"Don't you guys have weapons!?" Ty-Lee questioned the machines.

"The Cons confiscated all our weapons when we were captured!" Sunstreaker explained.

"All except one that is!" Sideswipe added before he activated his shoulder cannon.

The red Autobot began to fire his only weapon at their aerial attacker, who easily bobbed and weaved out the way of the laser fire. The triple-changer then flew lower to the ground before changing into his tank form and advanced toward his targets.

"Die Autobot trash!" he shouted as fired off more rounds at them.

The Bots and the girls ducked out of the way as Blitzwing continued his assault. Sideswipe shot back with his shoulder cannon, however it seemed ineffective against the tough armor Blitzwing's second vehicle mode had. Sunstreaker then transformed into his vehicle form and drove up to the much larger Con. Once he was close enough to his enemy, he transformed back into his robot form and jumped unto the top of the tank. The yellow Autobot grabbed a hold of the turret and pulled it away from the direction of his twin at the last second before he took a shot toward the prison wall, destroying a section of the wall with a single shot.

"Chew on that Decepti-jerk!" the yellow Bot joked

In response to that, Blitzwing transformed into his robot form before he grabbed Sunstreaker by the throat and slammed him into the ground.

"Hey watch the paint job!" he snapped.

He tried to make his adversary let go by punching him in the face several times, but the triple-chargers grip was like a vice. He then picked up the smaller Autobot and started to pull on his arms and legs.

"You want a piece of me!" Sunstreaker shouted.

"No, I want two!" Blitzwing replied as he started to pull harder.

"Let my go brother you fragger!" Sideswipe ordered before shooting more rounds into Blitzwing's chest.

While the laser fire didn't do much damage to the Decepticon, it did make him let go of Sunstreaker as he stumbled backwards. Sunstreaker then changed back into his vehicle mode and sped back to his brother's side.

"What were you thinking!?" Sideswipe scolded.

"I was thinking he just found our new way out," Sunstreaker answered as he pointed to the now destroyed wall the Con had made by accident.

"You're not getting away from me that easily!" the triple-changer remarked as changed back into his tank mode and kept firing.

"We need to get out of here now!" Mai said as she ducked down from the laser fire.

"I've got an idea," Sideswipe spoke up. "Blitzwing may be able to transform into three different things, but that doesn't mean he can split into three different Cons like Sixshot can."

"I know what you're trying to say Swipes and it's not going to happen!" his twin shot back. "I'm not losing you again!"

"We've got no choice Sunny," the red Autobt replied. "I'll take the Kyoshi Warriors and you take the other two girls. Blitzwing can only follow of us, so the one he doesn't chase after can get to safety. And since I've been shooting at him, I think it's safe to say he'll come after me."

Sunstreaker did not like this plan at all, but his brother did have a point. Right now they were out gunned and human civilians were in danger. As much as it pained him to do this had had to be separated from his twin once again.

"Good luck brother," he said before changing back into his vehicle mode.

"Likewise Sunny" Sideswipe answered before doing the same.

"Good luck to you Mai," Min said as she handed Ty-Lee to the dark haired girl.

"You too," Mai acknowledged.

With that, the Kyoshi Warriors quickly piled into Sideswipe while Mai carefully placed her injured friend in the back seat of Sunstreaker before climbing into in the passenger side in the front. The two Autobots then sped off out of the destroyed wall and split into two opposite directions. Blitzwing, enraged at being shot at, transformed into his jet mode again and took off after Sideswipe as predicted. For a moment, the yellow robot wanted to turn around and try to help his sibling, but he knew that it only get them all either captured or killed, so as painful as it was he kept on driving.

* * *

Now that they knew that Megatron was somehow still alive, finding either more troops or more information became top priority for both the kids and the bots. While Aang would train with Katara, Toph and Zuko, the Autobots, as well as Sokka and Suki, would perform recon missions into the Fire Nation, trying to find anything that could give them an advantage over the Fire Nation and their Decepticon allies and despite the danger, they all knew it was worth the risk.

Today, Powerglide was on one such recon mission. His task was to fly into the far western territories and try to find any unused routes that they could use in order to sneak into the capital, however the aerialbot was having no such luck. Suddenly he began to pick up a distress signal on his radio. At first he thought it was a Decepticon trick until he heard a familiar voice.

"This is Sunstreaker calling to all Autobots, can anyone hear me?" the voice called out. "I am at these coordinates and request assistance at once!"

"This is Powergilde, I got your message and I'm headed your way buddy!" the flying Autobot answered before kicking up his thrusters into full gear and headed off to save his friend.

* * *

Meanwhile, with the rest of the kids, they had spent a long day of training and when Sokka discovered a play had been written about them and the Bots by two men named Mako Bay and Shama Lan. They decided to take a break for the night and go see this play for themselves alongside Smokescreen, Ironhide and Bumblebee who were also curious about the play.

It goes without saying that they didn't enjoy it.

"That...wasn't a good play," Sokka said as they left the theater in a rut.

"That's an understatement kid," Ironhide replied. "It was a dumber then a sack of scarplets!"

"I'll say" Aang added dejectedly.

"By the Allspark that was just horrible!" the old Bot continued.

"You said it," Toph mentioned.

"But the effects were decent," Sokka reasoned as he walked with Suki.

"Oh you mean the random explosions everywhere? Yeah those were so cool," Smokescreen sarcastically remarked as he rolled his optics.

"(And I do not sound like a talking radio!)" Bumblebee beeped in anger. "(Seriously did those guys do any research on us before making this play?)"

"Hey at least you didn't get killed off randomly and have no one care about it," Hide replied.

"Or get turned into some bland piece of eye-candy!" the water bender added. "That Ma'gann Fox is a terrible actress."

"And all my actor did was shout for 'Optimus' and look surprised all the time" Zuko mentioned.

"And Sokka and Aang's actors were just two exposition spewing sticks in the mud!" Smokescreen added.

"And us earthbenders do NOT earthbend like what you described to me!" Toph shouted.

"Maybe we should've seen that Blue Spirit: Turn off the Dark musical instead" the Avatar said.

Just then Ironhide received a message over his com-link directly of Ultra Magnus himself. The older Bot stepped away from the group in order to hear what his commanding officer had to say. When he was done speaking with Magnus, he rushed back over to the group.

"Guys Magnus just told me Powerglide found an Autobot while his recon mission!" he informed them.

"Is it Optimus?" Smokescreen asked in an excited tone.

"No, it's Sunstreaker," Ironhide answered. "But that doesn't matter, right now we have to head back home. Streaker he has humans with him and one of them needs immediate medical attention."

The three Autobots changed into their vehicle modes and allowed the humans to climb into them before driving back to the base, hoping that the newly found Autobot had any good news.

* * *

Once they had arrived back at the campsite, the group found the new Autobot still in his vehicle mode surrounded by Magnus and the other Bots, when they noticed the rest of the group joining them. They stepped aside to let the humans get closer.

"You said you had someone in need of medical attention?" Katara questioned Sunstreaker. "Who is it?"

At that moment, an all too familiar girl stepped out of the passenger side of the robot. It was someone who they all knew, Zuko of course the most out of all.

"Mai!" he cried out in happiness before running up to her.

"Zuko!" she said in a mixture of both shock and happiness.

The two lovers ran up to one other before embracing one other tightly, they then kissed one another deeply; ignoring everyone else around them.

"These humans have odd ways of showing their affections toward one other," the current Autobot leader mentioned to Ironhide, to which he nodded.

However, not everyone was as happy as the former prince was to see Mai, Suki first and foremost.

"Step aside Zuko, me and miss gloomy have unfinished business!" she ordered before taking a fighting stance.

"Just hold on Suki, Mai was under Azula's orders to attack the Kyoshi Warriors," Zuko explained. "It wasn't her fault."

"She's still one of Azula's friends," Katara added.

"Yeah we were such good friends that she locked Ty-Lee and I in a prison just for giggles," Mai deadpanned.

"Come on guys your treating we exactly how you treating me when I first joined the group," the firebender remarked. "Mai helped Sokka, Warpath and I rescue your father as well as Bee and Hide."

"Is that true?" Katara questioned her brother.

"Yeah, she gave us time to escape by distracting Shockwave's soldiers," he explained.

"Plus, she kinda helped Sokka, Bee and I find the medical supplies needed to save Ironhide," Aang added.

"(Not to mention she snuffed an Insectitcon by herself with just a sword,)" Bumblebee said, which impressed the other Bots.

"And furthermore, she helped not only me and my brother escape the prison, but also the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors," Sunstreaker added.

"Their alive?! Where are they?" Suki demanded.

"When we broke out of the prison, we we're attacked by Blitzwing," Mai explained. "We were forced to spilt up. The Kyoshi Warriors went with Sideswipe while Ty-Lee and I went with Sunstreaker."

"But Blitzwing chased after Sideswipe. We don't know what happened to them after that," Sunstreaker finished.

"Toph, is she telling the truth about my friends?" Suki asked the earthbenber.

"Every last word of it," Toph answered.

"Wait, you said Ty-Lee was with you, where is she?" Katara spoke up.

In response, the newcomer opened his back door to reveal the acrobat, who had passed out from all the pain she was going through. Both the humans and robots gasped in shock at the sight of the girl's legs.

"The guards broke her legs" Mai informed them before looking to Katara. "Can you help?"

Not in a million years did Katara ever think that one day she would help a person that could render her bending useless, but as she looked at the wounded girl laying their so still, there was no way she could say no.

"Bring over to my tent," she said. "I'll do want I can to heal her legs."

Zuko carefully reached into Sunstreaker and gently pulled out the unconscious acrobat and followed the Water Tribe girl into her tent with Mai right behind him. This gave the yellow Autobot a chance to transform back into his robot mode and walk up to his commanding officer.

"Sir with you permission, I'd like to go search for my brother and bring him back here," he requested.

"I'm sorry, but your request is denied," Magnus replied. "We need everyone here with us for Sozin's comet."

"Besides Sideswipe is a great solider. I'm sure he can get away from someone like Blitzwing without a problem," Arcee mentioned.

"And he has my warriors to back him up," Suki added.

Suntreaker absolutely hated the idea of not being able to search for his sibling, but there was no way he could find his twin all on his own.

"I swear to you solider that once he have dealt with Sozin's Comet we will search for you brother," Ultra Magus assured as he put a hand on his shoulder."

"Thank you sir," he answered.

* * *

It was a long night for Katara as she continued to heal the damage done to the circus girl's legs. She did help heal the wounds her father had been inflicted with, but this was different. If she messed up at all, Ty-Lee may not be able to walk again. Suddenly, the acrobat's eyes slowly opened, which made the waterbender very nervous. She feared Ty-Lee would freak out and attack her, but instead she only gave her a weak yet warm smile.

"...thank you..." she said.

Katara said nothing, but she did return the smile with one of her own.

"How is she doing?" Zuko questioned as he, Sokka and Mai walked into the tent.

"A lot better," Katara began. "I managed to stop an infection from spreading into her body as well as heal most of the broken bones, but she's going to have to take it easy for awhile."

"You mean I can't run or even do a cartwheel?" Ty-Lee spoke up with a tear coming down her face.

"Unfortunately yes, but only for at least a week or two," the Water Tribe girl explained.

"I feel so useless..." Ty-Lee said, now on the verge of tears.

"Hey now you can know what it feels like when you take away someone's bending," Sokka blurted out as a joke, which only got him angry glares from everyone in the room ."I'll...just be going now."

As he attempted to walk out of the room, he accidently tripped over some bowls of water that Katara was using.

"Sokka, I needed that!" Katara snapped, which only made him make a B-Line for the door.

Once the Water Tribe warrior had dashed out of the tent, Zuko turned his attention to his lover. He led her out of Katara's tent and to his own so he could speak with her in private. Once they were alone, the Mai told her lover everything, from her imprisonment to finding out her uncle's death, which of course stunned Zuko.

"I wish I had taken you with me when I left in the first place," he began. "Then all of this would've been avoided."

"Well I'm here with you now if that makes you feel any better," Mai remarked with a warm smile. "But promise me one thing Zuko."

"What is it?" her boyfriend asked.

"Before this war ends, I want to be there when you take down Azula and Shockwave," Mai said. "I want to make them suffer for what they did to Ty-Lee and my uncle."

"Of course Mai, you need that closure," Zuko replied. "And I'm going to need you with me when I face my sister again."

The two kissed each other deeply before Zuko used his bending to snuff out the candles in his room, allowing the darkness to cover them both.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aang and Smokescreen stood on the edge of the base and watched the stars in the sky shine down upon them. They were also taking in everything that had happen in the past few weeks as well as what was to come next.

"It's kind of funny when you think about it; first Zuko joins our side; now Mai and Ty-Lee are with us and from what Ironhide told me about them, they sound pretty tough," the young Autobot pointed with a chuckle. "What's next? Is Sixshot going to switch sides too?"

"It just goes to show that anyone has the capacity for becoming good," Aang replied with a smile.

"Spoken like a true Prime," Smokescreen complimented. "I just wish that saying went the same for Ozai and Megatron."

The airbender didn't want to answer that, instead he just continued to look up at the sky, fearing what was soon to come upon them in only a few days time and how he going to handle the situation.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


	26. Sozin's Comet part 1

**WOW. I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD ACTUALLY MAKE IT TO SOZIN'S COMET. I HONESTLY THOUGHT THIS STORY WOULD PROBABLY CRASH AND BURN BEFOREHAND BUT THANKS TO YOUR KIND WORDS AND SUPPORT FOR THIS STORY, I WAS ABLE TO PRESS ON. ANYWAY, I'M REALLY EXCITED TO WRITE THE FINALE, AND I'M CONFIDENT THAT YOU'RE GONNA LIKE WHAT I HAVE IN STORE. THAT SAID, AS ALWAYS, TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON.**

**BTW, IN CASE YOU DON'T KNOW, THE TRANSFORMERS PRIME MOVIE PREDACONS RISING HAS BEEN LEAKED EARLY AND I SUGGEST YOU SEE IT BEFORE IT'S POSSIBLY TAKEN DOWN**

* * *

Transformers: Avatar Chronicles

Chapter 26: Sozin's Comet Part 1

* * *

On Ember Island, in front of Fire Lord Ozai's beach house, Aang was busy practicing his firebending while the rest of the Gaang, as well as their new ally Mai, Smokescreen and Warpath were watching. Aang appeared to be doing decently, but Zuko thought otherwise, for he was standing beside Aang, observing Aang with his arms crossed sternly.

"More ferocious!" Zuko commanded. Aang then tried to firebend with more ferocity and with an intense look of concentration in his eyes.

"Imagine striking through your opponent's heart," Zuko added.

"Ugh! I'm trying!" Aang responded in an aggitated manner as he stopped firebending.

"Now let me hear you roar like a tiger-dillo!" Zuko instructed. Aang then responded by stretching his arms and roared, but it was rather pathetic as it was soft and only weak streams of fire came out from his palm and mouth. He then grinned sheepishly at his failed attempt.

"That sounded pathetic!" Zuko lashed out. "I said roar!" Aang then tried again, this time with more ferocity as larger flames came from his palms and mouth. Momo, out of fear, hid behind Zuko's leg, while Zuko nodded in approval.

"Is he always like this?" Smokescreen asked Mai.

"Not always," Mai responded while shrugging. Katara then grabbed two sliced watermelons with straws in them.

"Who wants a nice, cool glass of watermelon juice?" she asked. This immediately got Aang's attention as he began to run to Katara.

"Oooh, oooh, me me me!" he responded before Zuko came and grabbed Aang by the back of his robes.

"Hey! Your lesson's not over yet, get back here!" Zuko commanded despite Aang's protests.

"Come on Zuko," Suki said as Sokka sat beside her and drank some of the watermelon juice. "Just take a break. What's the big deal?"

"Fine..." Zuko responded as he released Aang, who didn't hesitate to run up to the others. "If you want to lounge around like a bunch of snail-sloths all day, then go ahead!" With that, he turned and walked away in anger.

"I'll go talk to him..." Mai dryly said as she got up and followed Zuko.

"Maybe Zuko's right," Sokka said. "Sitting around the house has made us pretty lazy. But I know just the thing to change that." With that, he got up and excitedly removed his outer coat.

"Beach party!" he declared.

* * *

*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*

* * *

Needless to say, they were having a blast. Katara was busy surfing in the ocean with an ice block she waterbended, Suki was Sun bathing on a towel while watching Sokka was carrying seaweed in his arms to a different location, and Aang was with Smokescreen constructing a sand sculpture of Appa.

"Check out our Appa sand sculpture," Aang said as the real Appa grunted at the sight.

"Not bad, but I've been working on my sandbending," Toph said as she stretched and cracked her fingers. "You're gonna love this." With one step, an area of sand immediately turned to a miniature replica of Ba Sing Se. Smokescreen just whistled in an impressed manner while Aang walked towards it, scruntinsing the details.

"Wow, you even made a little Earth King and Bosco," Aang said, also impressed with Toph's sandbending skills.

Sokka meanwhile was busy with a sand sculpture as well. Aang, Toph and Smokescreen walked up to the sight.

"Try and top that Sokka," Toph dared while Sokka finished up his sculpture.

"Ta-da!" Sokka said as he revealed his sand sculpture, which looked like a blubbering blob monster.

"Is that a...blubbering blob monster?" Aang asked. Told ya.

"No!" Sokka said as he stompped the ground defensively. "It's Suki!" That revelation caused Aang and Toph's jaws to drop in shock while Smokescreen fell to the ground, laughing.

"Oh ha-ha, very funny Smokescreen," Sokka sarcastically said. "Let's see you do better."

"Frankly Sokka, I think I can do a better sculpture with my optics closed and by hands tied to my back," Smokescreen remarked.

"Suki, we'll all understand if you break up with him after this," Toph added, trying to surpress her laughter.

"I think it's sweet," Suki responded, to which Sokka ran up to his girlfriend and grabbed Suki by the shoulders, kissing her cheek.

"But it doesn't even look like-" Aang began before a blast of fire hit the sand sculpture, destroying it instantly. Aang quickly shielded himself from the impact while Smokescreen got his blaster ready. To their shock, they saw Zuko running and jumping off a cliff, firebending at Aang. Aang narrowly missed the blasts and ran away from the beach with Zuko following him.

"What the frag are you doing!?" Smokescreen shouted as he fired stun blasts at Zuko.

"Teaching him a lesson!" Zuko replied as he tried to firebend at Aang before one of Smokescreen's stun blasts hit Zuko, knocking him out.

* * *

When Zuko awakened, he saw everyone standing in front of him, demanding answers.

"Zuko, have you gone crazy!?" Mai asked.

"What's wrong with you!?" Katara asked. "You could have hurt Aang!"

"What's wrong with me!?" Zuko asked as he got up. "What's wrong with all of you!? How can you sit around having beach parties when Sozin's Comet is only three days away!?" The rest of the group simply looked upon Zuko with guilty expressions on their faces.

"Why are you all looking at me like I'm crazy?" Zuko asked.

"About Sozin's Comet..." Aang said as he stepped forward. "I was actually going to wait to fight the Fire Lord until after it came."

"After?" Zuko asked in disbelief.

"I'm not ready," Aang explained. "I need more time to master firebending."

"And frankly, your earthbending could still use some work too," Toph added.

"So...you all knew Aang was going to wait?" Zuko asked the others.

"Face the facts Zuko," Mai said. "If Aang tries to fight Ozai in this state, he's going to get killed."

"The whole point of fighting the Fire Lord before the comet was to stop the Fire Nation from winning the war, but the fact is that they've pretty much won already," Smokescreen added. "They've taken over Ba Sing Se, captured most of the other Autobots, and on top of that they have the Decepticons as their new allies. Things can't get any worse."

"You're wrong Smokescreen," Zuko suddenly said as he remembered a war meeting that changed his life forever. "It's about to get worse that you can even imagine. The day before the eclipse, my Father asked me to attend an important war meeting. It was what I dreamed about and wanted for so many years. My father had finally accepted me back.

* * *

_Zuko was walking inside his father's throne room where his father was waiting for him. His sister was beside him with_ _Ravage at her side, and Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave and Shockwave were with the generals that surrounded a table that had a map_ _of the Earth Kingdom spread out on it._

_"Welcome Prince Zuko," Megatron said. "We have been waiting for you." Zuko then took his seat beside his father, and the_ _war meeting had officially begun._

_"General Shinu, your report," Ozai commanded to one of the generals._

_"Thank you sir," Shinu replied as he stood up and bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Ba Sing Se is still under our_ _control. However, earthbender rebellions have prevented us from achieving total victory in the Earth Kingdom."_

_"Bah! If your pathetic excuses for soldiers would not get in the way, I'm sure that we co-" Starscream began, only to be_ _punched in the face by Megatron._

_"You will speak only when spoken to Starscream," Megatron commanded. "Do I make myself clear?"_

_"Y-yes, my master," Starscream said as he got up, cursing the tyrant in his mind._

_"Anyway, what is your reccomendation general?" Ozai asked._

_"Our forces are spread too thin, but once the eclipse is over and the invasion defeated, we should transfer more domestic_ _forces to the Earth Kingdom," Shinu responded._

_"Hmmm..." Ozai said as he turned to notice his son slouching, appearing as though he was uninterested. "Prince Zuko,_ _you've been among the Earth Kingdom commoners. Do you think that adding more troops will stop these rebellions?" All Zuko_ _did was drop his head and think of a response that will not repeat the same incident that happened three years ago._

_"The people of the Earth Kingdom are proud and strong," Zuko finally said. "They can endure anything as long as they have_ _hope." Ozai took what his son said into consideration before responding._

_"Yes, you're right," he replied before a look of prue evil came upon his face. "We need to destroy their hope."_

_"Well, that's not exactly what I-" Zuko began before his sister interrupted him._

_"I think you should take their precious hope, and the rest of their land, and burn it all to the ground," Azula suggested._ _"And I believe that our esteemed Decepticon scientist may have some ways of doing just that."_

_"Is that true Shockwave?" Ozai asked._

_"Yes Fire Lord Ozai," Shockwave answered as he turned to face the generals. "When I first arrived here, I began work on two_ _projects that I am confident will make our victory inevitable. The first, is Project Retribution." With that, he tossed_ _a small orb onto the table, showing a hologram of a giant, Mechagodzilla like Decepticon called 'Trypticon.'_

_"This is Trypticon," Shockwave began. "The largest Decepticon ever conceived. Weapons all over his body and able to_ _generate fire that he can blast from his mouth, he would be perfect for the task that the princess has suggested."_

_"Hmmm...interesting," Ozai said with a wicked smirk on his face. "What is the second project?"_

_"This next project shall make you all but invincible Ozai, Project Nemesis," Shockwave answered before the hologram_ _changed to what looked like Optimus Prime, but with a much duller, almost rust covered paint job, and with the Fire Nation_ _insignia on his chest as opposed to an Autobot symbol._

_"This replica of Optimus Prime acts like a suit of armor," Shockwave explained as the hologram opened up from the chest_ _area. "You simply board inside it, and once sealed inside, you will not only still be granted your firebending_ _capabilities, but you will also gain all of the strength and abilities of Optimus Prime himself. The best part, though you_ _will be given all of his strengths, you will not be given any of his weaknesses." Ozai, clearly impressed, laughed_ _maniacaly as the hologram switched off._

_"Yes...this is perfect!" he said as he got up and walked onto the table. "Sozin's Comet is almost upon us, and on that day_ _it will endow us with the strength and power of a hundred Suns. No bender or Autobot will stand a chance against us."_

_"What are you suggesting sir?" general Shinu asked._

_"When the comet last came, my grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, used it to wipe out the Air Nomads," Ozai answered. "Now, I_ _will use its power and Shockwave's projects to end the Earth Kingdom. Permanently! From our airships and this 'Trypticon,'_ _we will rain fire over their lands. A fire that will destroy EVERYTHING. And out of the ashes, a new world will be born. A_ _world in which ALL the lands are Fire Nation, and I am the supreme ruler of everything!"_

* * *

"I wanted to speak out against this horrifying plan, but I'm ashamed to say I didn't." Zuko continued as the others looked upon him in pure shock over what he had explained to them. "My whole life I struggled to gain my Father's love and acceptance, but once I had it, I realized I lost myself getting there. I forgotten who I was."

"By the Allspark..." Sunstreaker said.

"What barbarism..." Ultra Magnus added. "To willingly destroy an entire nation and cause the deaths of millions."

"If not billions," Mai responded. "I always knew your father was a bad man Zuko-,"

"But this is different," Smokescreen finished for Mai. "This plan of his is pure evil."

"And yet he sees himself as a necessary evil," Katara added as she fell to her knees, shaking her head in despair. "I can't believe this."

"What am I gonna do?" Aang asked, still in disbelief.

"I know you're scares, and I know that you're not ready to save the world," Zuko answered as he walked up to Aang. "But if you don't defeat the Fire Lord and Megatron before the comet comes, there won't be a world to save anymore."

"Why didn't you tell me about your dad's crazy plan sooner!?" Aang asked as he began to walk away.

"I didn't think I had to," Zuko responded. "I assumed that you were still going to fight him before the comet. No one told me you decided to wait!"

"This is bad," Aang said as he placed both of his hands in despair, dropping to his knees and shaking his head. "This is really, really bad."

"Aang, you don't have to do this alone," Smokescreen said as he walked up to Aang with Katara, Toph and Zuko.

"Yeah, if we all fight the Fire Lord and bucket head together, we got a shot at taking them down," Toph added.

"Alright! Team Avatar is back!" Sokka declared while raising his fist enthusiastically. "Air! Water! Earth! Fire! Knives! Aliens! Fan and sword!" With that last one he picked up a fan shaped leaf and handed it to Suki while thrusting a large leaf into the air.

"Fighting the Fire Lord is going to be the hardest thing we've ever done together, but I wouldn't want to do it any other way," Aang said before the rest of the group laughed and engaged in a group hug, except for Zuko and Mai that is.

"Get over here you two," Katara said to the two lovers. "Being part of the group also means being part of group hugs." Mai just rolled her eyes while Zuko looked to the side before caving in and joining them. Then Appa came in and got tackled to the ground by the sky bison.

* * *

Afterward, Aang and Zuko met up in the courtyard to continue their training while Katara, Bumblebee and Momo sat at the side, spectating.

"There's only one technique you need to know before facing my father: How to redirect lightning," Zuko said to Aang, who was grinning in anticipation. Zuko then demonstrated how it was done.

"If you let the energy in your own body flow, the lightning will follow it," he continued. "You turn your opponent's energy against them."

"That's like waterbending," Aang responded before begining to mimic Zuko's movements.

"Exactly," Zuko replied. "My uncle invented the technique himself by studying waterbenders."

"So, have you ever redirected lightning before?" Aang asked.

"Once...against my father," Zuko answered.

"What did it feel like?" Aang asked.

"Exhilarating...but terrifying," Zuko replied.

* * *

_Ozai started bending lightning and shot it at Zuko, but surprisingly, he caught it by the tips of his fingers and launched it back at Ozai, causing him to fly back into the wall and start a fire. Zuko took this time to escape as Ozai glared at his son._

* * *

"You feel so powerful holding that much energy in your body, but you know that if you make the wrong move, it's over," Zuko continued.

"Heh, well, not OVER over, right?" Aang asked nervously. "I mean there's always Katara and a little spirit water action...am I right?"

"Actually I, used it all up after Megatron shot you," Katara responded matter-of-factly.

"Oh..." Aang responded in a dissapointed manner.

"You'll need to take the Fire Lord's life, before he takes yours," Zuko stated.

"Yeah...I'll just do that..." Aang nervously replied.

* * *

Once that was said and done, the group moved to an isolated area to discuss their battle plan.

"Gather round Team Avatar," Sokka said as he placed a carved watermelon thatresembled a jack-o-lantern onto a wooden sculpture with a red cloth draped over it. "In order to take out Megatron and the Fire Lord, or in this case, the 'Melon Lord,' our timing has to be perfect." With that, he kneeled down and drew some lines in the sand.

"First, Suki, Warpath and I will draw his fire. Then, Katara, Zuko, Mai and Bumblebee charge in with some liquidy hot offence while Magnus, Ironhide, Arcee, Springer, Blurr and Sunstreaker take out any Vehicons and while the Melon Lord and Megatron are distracted, Aang swoops in and BAM! He delivers the final blow!"

"Err...what about me?" Toph asked when she realized Sokka didn't mention her.

"And me?" Smokescreen added.

"For now, you two are the Melon Lord and Megatron's forces," Sokka answered.

"So I get to chuck flaming rocks at all of you?" Toph asked with enthusiasm.

"And I get to fire non lethal rounds?" Smokescreen added.

"Whatever maked the training feel more realistic," Sokka answered.

"Sweetness," Toph responded with a smile on her face.

* * *

Thus, the training for the final battle had begun, and it goes without saying, Toph was having fun.

"Mwahahahahahaha!" she said with Smokescreen next to her, sitting on a stone throne, as seaweed covered boulders surrounded them and a ring of fire surrounded the boulders.

"Lord Smokescreen, emperor of destruction," Smokescreen remarked in a slightly mocking Megatron impersonation.

The rest of the group meanwhile were hiding behind rocks in their designated groups, waiting for the right moment to strike. Then Sokka, now in his Water Tribe wolf armor, motioned for them to go and everyone, minus Aang, made their way toward Toph and Smokescreen when Toph earthbended Fire Nation soldier and Vehicon dummies out of rock and made them charge toward them. The Autobots blasted the Vehicons with ease as Smokescreen fired non lethal rounds at them to simulate an aerial strike. Sokka, Suki and Warpath then took care of the soldiers that were advancing toward them before a flaming boulder came in and the three of them dodged it in time, with Sokka just a few inches away from it.

"Watch it Toph!" Sokka complained while shaking his fist.

"I am not Toph, I am Melon Lord!" Toph declared in a slightly joking manner. "Mwahahahahahahaha!" She then earthbended a rock over the ring of fire and ignited it before sending it to Zuko, Katara, Mai and Bumblebee, who dodge it easily. Then more stone dummies came to them, but with a combination of firebending, waterbending, knives and laser blasts, it was nothing they couldn't handle.

"Now Aang!" Sokka commanded as more rocks were being hurdled over them. Aang then came in, leaping from a rock and ready to strike at the Melon Lord, but when he landed, he stopped his staff from striking it just a few inches away. He then pulled his staff back, just standing there.

"What are you waiting for!?" Zuko asked. "Take him out!"

"I can't," Aang unwillingly responded as he shoke his head.

"What are you doing?" Smokescreen said as he got up and walked to Aang. "If this was the real deal, you'd be ashes by now!"

"I'm sorry, but it just didn't feel right," Aang replied. "I didn't feel like myself." Ultra Magnus, who sighed unapprovingly, then got out his hammer and walked to the scarecrow of the Melon Lord and smashed it to bits. Aang could just close his eyes and grimace at the act.

"There," Ultra Magnus said dryly. "Better?" Aang didn't say a word. He just looked at the remains of the scarecrow in disbelief.

* * *

Later that night, the group decided to take a break in the beach house's courtyard. Aang just sat down, looking at his untouched dinner, while the rest of the humans were eating without any restraints. Then Katara came in with a scroll in her hands.

"I have a surprise for everyone!" Katara stated.

"I knew it!" Toph suddenly replied. "You did have a secret thing with Haru!" Katara just glared slightly in response while the others, minus Aang, just gave expressionless looks at Toph.

"Who's Ha-never mind," Arcee said.

"Uh...no..." Katara answered. "I was looking for some cooking pots in the attic and I found this." She then unscrolled the scroll to reveal a painting of an infant, obviously of Fire Nation heritage, smiling happily with his arms in the air on the beach.

"Look at baby Zuko! Isn't he cute?" Katara asked. The others, except Zuko, Mai and the Bots, responded by laughing, while Zuko just looked away with his eyes closed.

"Oh lighten up, I was just kidding," Katara said, trying to cheer him up.

"That's not Zuko...that's Ozai," Mai corrected, which obviously shocked the others, even the Bots.

"But, he looked so sweet and innocent," Suki stated.

"Looks can be deceiving," Smokescreen replied. "Megatron was once a good friend of Optimus. Little did anyone know that he would become a tyrannous warlord."

"And that sweet little kid grew up to be a monster, and the worst father in the history of fathers," Zuko added.

"But he's still a human being," Aang stated, which got everyone's attention.

"You're going to defend him?" Springer asked, shocked with what he had just said.

"No, I agree with you," Aang corrected as he stood up to face the others. "Fire Lord Ozai is a horrible person and the world will probably be better off without him, but there's gotta be another way."

"Like what?" Zuko asked.

"I don't know," Aang responded. "Maybe we can make some big pots of glue and then I can use gluebending to stick his arms and legs together so he can't bend anymore."

"Yeah, then you can show him his baby pictures and all those happy memories will make him good again," Zuko sarcastically said while the others snickered at Aang's dumb idea.

"Do you really think that would work?" Aang naively asked.

"No!" Zuko shouted, to which Aang dropped his head and sighed in response.

"This goes against everything I learned from the monks," Aang stated. "I can't just go around wiping out people I don't like..."

"Sure you can," Sokka replied. "You're the Avatar. If it's in the name of keeping balance, I'm pretty sure the Universe will forgive you." That clearly got to Aang, for he then turned and bursted out all of his anger.

"This isn't a joke Sokka!" he yelled. "None of you understand the position I'm in!" Katara was about to try and calm him down when Ultra Magnus suddenly got up, clearly angry, and walked to Aang.

"I don't know what the monks have taught you Aang, but back on Cybertron, we were taught that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few!" he shouted at Aang. "What you're doing right now is risking the lives of EVERYONE that inhabits the Earth Kingdom! And you have the nerve to say that you'd rather spare the life of a monster than to save the lives of the millions of lives he threatens!?" Aang, snapped. He then got out his staff before Magnus could say another word and airbended him to the ground in anger.

"When ANY of you figure out a way for me to beat the Fire Lord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it!" he shouted to the others before walking away while Magnus got up and walked away as well.

"Aang, don't walk away from this!" Katara said as she began to follow him, only for Zuko to stop her.

"Let him go," Zuko instructed. "He needs time to sort this out by himself."

"I'll go talk to Magnus," Smokescreen volunteered as he got up and followed Ultra Magnus.

* * *

Later that night, Aang was meditating in a section of the house in front of four candles and some offerings when Momo came gliding up to him.

"Hey Momo," Aang said as he patted the lemur bat's head. "I don't suppose you know what I should do." All Momo did was make a sound in response.

"I didn't think so," Aang responded before resuming meditation while Momo lied down on his side.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ultra Magnus stood on a cliffside, watching the waves crashing in the ocean, when Smokescreen came up from behind and cleared his throat.

"Permission to speak sir?" he asked.

"Permission granted soldier," Ultra Magnus answered.

"Sir, I agree that the only sensible solution to this is for Aang to kill Ozai, but you need to understand what Aang is going through," Smokescreen began. "All his life he's been taught that everything can be resolved peacefully, when you and I both know that that's not the case. This is something new that's abruptly come to him, and he's not ready." Magnus simply sighed in response before turning to Smokescreen.

"I suppose you're right Smokescreen," he admitted. "I guess my actions were uncalled for. I just didn't think of what was going through Aang's mind."

"We shouldn't be stressing him to do this," Smokescreen advised. "We should be letting the situation sink into him and let him come to his senses."

"Spoken like a Prime," Magnus responded with a smile before he and Smokescreen walked back to the beach house.

* * *

Later that night, Aang was fast asleep with Momo snoozing beside him, when a mysterious chanting noise could be heard and what looked like an island appeared to slowly advance to the beach house. Hearing the chanting, Aang and Momo woke up and started to slowly walk to the island.

The next morning, everyone was getting ready to depart for the Fire Nation.

"Okay, that's everything," Sokka said as he loaded the last of the equipment onto Appa's saddle when Toph noticed something.

"No, it's not," she replied. "Where's Aang? Everyone then realized she was right. Aang was nowhere to be found. Everyone then departed to search around for Aang.

"Aang? Aang!" Zuko shouted as he and the others ran inside the house.

"Come on lazy bones, let's go," Toph said.

"Yoohoo, yooho, yoohoo, AangAangAang, comeoutcomeoutwhereveryouare!" Blurr shouted. Nothing. That's when Sokka noticed something on one of the balconies.

"He left his staff," he said as he picked it up. "That's so strange."

"Aang's not in the house," Zuko declared. "Let's go check the beach."

They did just that, but this time, they noticed something in the sand.

"Look! There's his footprints," Sokka stated as he followed the footprints, only for it to lead to the shore. "The trail ends here."

"So...he went for a midnight swim and never came back?" Suki asked.

"Maybe he was captured," Mai suggested.

"Not likely," Springer said as he went up to check the footprints. "Doesn't look like there was a struggle."

"I bet he ran away again," Toph suggested.

"Uh-uh, he left behind his glider and Appa," Sokka stated.

"Then what do YOU think happened to him oh sleuthy one?" Toph asked in a slightly mocking manner.

"It's pretty obvious," Sokka answered as he held up his finger in an 'I got it' manner. "Aang mysteriously disappears before an important battle? He's definitely on a Spirit World journey."

"But if he was, wouldn't his body still be here?" Zuko asked.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that," Sokka dissapointingly said as he slumped downward.

"Then he must be on Ember Island somewhere," Ultra Magnus declared. "Let's split up and look for him."

"I'm going with Zuko!" Toph suddenly said as she immediately grabbed Zuko's arm, confusing everybody. "What? Everyone else went on a life changing adventure with Zuko, now it's my turn." Mai's response was to raise her eyebrow in suspicion.

* * *

With that said, they split up. Katara, Suki, Mai, Bumblebee and Smokescreen decided to check among the streets of Ember Island. All they found however was a crowd of 14 year old boys clammoring over Ma'gann Fox, who was dressed as Katara, much to the dismay of the others. (especially Katara)

Sokka, who rode on Appa, and Warpath meanwhile flew around the beaches in search of Aang, but came up empty handed.

All the while, the rest of the Autobots split up to search around the island. None of them however could find Aang once they regrouped.

"Find anything?" Arcee asked as Sunstreaker, who was covered in white spots, and Powerglide came back from their search.

"Yeah, I found out that I hate these 'seagulls' that fly around here..." Sunstreaker sarcastically answered.

"Were either of you able to find Aang?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Negative sir," Powerglide answered. "Nothing but sand and seagulls as far as the optic can see."

"Then here's hoping that the others were able to find him," Ultra Magnus replied.

Finally, Toph, of course was with Zuko, was searching through the island as well, telling Zuko about her life.

"And then, when I was nine, I ran away again," Toph continued.

"Uh-huh," Zuko responded, almost as if he wasn't listening, obviously disinterested of what he was hearing.

"I know I shouldn't complain, my parents gave me everything that I ever asked for," Toph admitted. "But they never gave me the one thing that I really wanted. Their love. You know what I mean?"

"Look, I know you had a rough childhood, but we should really focus on finding Aang," Zuko finally said as he continued walking through the beach.

"This is the worst field trip ever," Toph said in a disappointed manner, blowing her fringe in irritation.

* * *

Giving up on their search, everyone met back at the beach house with empty hands when they noticed Sokka and Warpath land in front of them.

"I'm guessing by all the long faces you didn't find Aang either," Warpath said.

"No...it's like he just...disapeared," Zuko replied when Toph stood up, remembering something.

"Hey, wait a minute, has anyone noticed that Momo's missing too?" Toph asked. What came next, no one could ever expect.

"Oh no! I knew it was only a matter of time!" Sokka said with an exaggerated look of horror on his face before he suddenly ran up to Appa. "Appa ate Momo!" Everyone else just looked at Sokka as though he was crazy...which isn't all that farfetched to be honest.

"Momo! I'm coming for you buddy!" Sokka shouted as he tried to open Appa's mouth.

"Sokka, have you gone crazy?" Warpath asked. "Appa didn't eat Momo, he's probably with Aang."

"That's just what Appa wants you to think!" Sokka responded as he started climbing inside the sky bison's mouth when Appa suddenly closed his mouth, causing Sokka's legs to flail around as if, well, he was in the inside of a giant bison's mouth.

"Get out of the bison's mouth soldier," Magnus ordered as Sokka slowly slid out of Appa's mouth, covered in his saliva. "We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away.

"What should we do Zuko?" Mai asked as all of the humans turned to him.

"I don't know," Zuko answered. "Why are you all looking at me?"

"Well, you are kind of the expert in tracking Aang," Katara replied as Sokka stood up and tried to rub Appa's saliva off of him before slipping and falling back into it, groaning in disgust.

"Yeah, if anyone's got experience hunting the Avatar, it's you," Toph added. Zuko responded by looking downward, wondering what to do, when suddenly, an idea came to him.

* * *

Later that day, everyone left Ember Island towards a destination that they did not expect, the Earth Kingdom.

"Zuko, why are we heading for the Earth Kingdom?" Mai asked as the humans flew on Appa with Springer, Warpath and Powerglide flying beside them.

"Just trust me," Zuko answered as they continued flying.

* * *

Back at the Fire Nation, Ozai, Azula and Galvatron were ready to join with the invasion force. Galvatron was standing on the dock to Ozai's battleship, with Soundwave and Cyclonus beside him, as he saw two palanquins come towards the dock. One had Ozai inside it, grinning sinisterly for what is to come. The other had Azula, sitting cross legged and looking rather impatient. Suddenly, she threw the vail open and shouted to the four palanquin bearers that were carrying her palanquin.

"Come on slowpokes, faster!" she shouted. The bearers desperately try to pick up the pace, despite them struggling with the weight, as Azula went back inside her palanquin, still looking rather displeased. Meanwhile, Ozai had made it to the dock and walked out of his palanquin and toward Galvatron. Upon seeing him glare down at him, Ozai reluctantly bowed to his superior. Then Azula ran up the dock and immediately kneeled before her father and the Decepticons before her.

"Sorry I'm late," she said. "Good palanquin bearers are so hard to come by these days. So, is everything ready for our departure?"

"There has been a change of plans Princess," Galvatron suddenly said, which visably shocked Azula.

"What?" she asked.

"We have decided to lead Trypticon and the fleet of airships ALONE," Ozai explained. "You will reamain here in the Fire Nation with Shockwave."

"But, I thought we were going to do this together..." Azula said, still in disbelief.

"The decision is final Azula," Galvatron replied, glaring down at the princess as she got up and angrily looked at her father.

"You...you can't treat me like this! You can't treat me like Zuko!" she said.

"Azula, silence yourself," Ozai commanded.

"I suggest you listen to your father little one," Galvatron responded.

"But it was my idea to burn everything to the ground! I deserve to be by your side!" Azula shouted before Galvatron stomped his foot down, causing a minor earthquake.

"SCILENCE!" he commanded. Clearly intimidated, Azula simpli looked to the side and closed her eyes in defeat.

"Listen to me," Ozai suddenly said. "I need you to watch over the homeland. It's a very important job that I can only entrust to you."

"...Really?" Azula asked as she opened her eyes and looked back to her father.

"And for your loyalty, I've decided to declare you the new Fire Lord," Ozai added. Azula could hardly believe what was happening as she started smiling.

"Fire Lord Azula?" she asked. "It does seem appropriate, but...what about you?"

"Fire Lord Ozai is no more," Ozai answered. Suddenly, a hatch from behind him opened and the armor that Shockwave had dubbed 'Project Nemesis' had risen up before opening up in the chest area.

"Just as the world will be reborn in fire, I shall be reborn as a new instrument of destruction, and as supreme ruler of the world!" Ozai continued as he stepped backward towards the armor and got into it as the hatch slowly started to close. "From this moment on, I shall be known as..." Once the armor closed, he raised both of his arms proudly as the eyes in the head of the armor lit up and a giant flag behind him lowered to reveal a Decepticon insignia on fire.

"...**NEMESIS PRIME!**" Ozai declared, now in a voice that was a mix of his and that of Optimus Prime's. Then, every citizen and soldier of the Fire Nation immediately kneeled before Nemesis Prime.

* * *

Back with Team Avatar, they had landed outside a three story building and all of the humans walked inside while the Autobots waited outside, not wanting to cause attention.

"And the reason you brought us to an Earth Kingdom taverin is what now?" Katara asked before Zuko pointed to a young woman wearing all black and getting in a fight with multiple men twice her size. Surprisingly, the young woman was kicking their asses with ease.

"June," Zuko answered as June continued to flawlessly take out her opponents, all the while holding a cup of hot tea.

"Oh yeah, that wierd bounty hunter with the giant mole," Sokka said as he remembered who this 'June' was.

"Mole? Her skin is flawless," Mai said as she observed June.

"No, she has this giant mole creature she rides around on," Sokka corrected.

"Her shirshu," Zuko explained. "It's the only animal that can track Aang's scent anywhere in the world. It's the one shot we have of finding him." As he was saying that, June was busy fighting someone when she suddenly threw her cup of tea into the air and threw the man over her shoulder when he lunged at her. Once he landed hard onto the ground, June grabbed her cup of tea without spilling any of it.

"I don't know who this June lady is, but I like her!" Toph said with a big smile on her face.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a forested area, Aang had awakened from his slumber as Momo awakened as well.

"Hey Momo," Aang said, clearly still sleepy. "I just had the strangest dream." It took him a few seconds that he was not in Ember Island and survayed the surroundings.

"Wait...where are we?" he asked.

* * *

*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*


End file.
